ONE OF THE EARLIEST COINS FROM THE USA TO BE INCLUDED IN SALE AT NOONANS

One of the earliest coins, an oak tree shilling, from Boston Massachusetts, dating from 1652 – the year that round coinage was implemented - is to be offered by Noonans Mayfair on Thursday, September 19, 2024 in a sale of British, World Coins and Historical Medals. It is estimated at £40,000-50,000 and has been in the possession of the same British family for the last 300 years.

As Bradley Hopper, Coin Specialist at Noonans explains: “A local coinage for New England was decreed in 1652 and the colonial government in Boston approached John Hull and Robert Sanderson, the only two skilled silversmiths in the colony to implement the policy. After a few false starts and alterations, the General Court decreed on October 19, 1652, that a round coinage with a design featuring a willow tree be implemented. Due to difficulties in producing the necessary dies and presses, the first Willow tree coin of any denomination wasn’t struck until 1654.”

He continued: “Some years later, probably in 1660 or 1662, the design was altered to an oak tree and the striking technique was changed from the traditional hammered method to a rocker press. It is believed these were struck for only a few years, being replaced by the commoner Pine Tree type c. 1667. All the coins bear the date 1652 which suggests that this represents the year the coinage was authorised and not that in which the coin was made. In support of this theory, the only coin not originally authorised was the Twopence, which was introduced in 1662 and thus carried that date.”

He finished with; “Also, it is no coincidence that the new coinage was introduced within months of Charles II’s flight to France in October 1651 - the colonists being anxious to take advantage of the power vacuum in England. The immobilised date, in the event of a later inquiry, might serve to suggest that all the coins were struck during the period when royal authority was lacking. Despite never receiving royal consent, the mint operated until June 1682, when Hull and Sanderson’s final seven-year contract expired.”