New England Silver Coins

Ron Guth: In the year 1652, Boston minters John Hull and Robert Saunderson began making the first silver coins ever struck on American soil. Their first designs were simple: one side was punched with a small “NE” (for “NEW ENGLAND”) and the other side was punched with the denomination in Roman numerals (in this case, the Shilling denomination represented by “XII). The punches were offset so that they would not crush each other.

The methods by which the New England Shillings were “struck” has been the subject of recent debate. Tradition holds that blank planchets were cut out of strips of silver, then weighed. Light planchets were re-melted while overweight planchets were adjusted by clipping their edges until they reached the proper weight of 72 grains. Once the weight was correct, the coins received the appropriate punches. A new theory holds that strips of silver received numerous punches, then the coins were cut out of the strip, taking care not to disturb the markings. Whichever method was used, the result was a crude piece, imperfectly round, and about as plain as a coin can be.

Interestingly, the language of the original legislation authorizing these coins called for them to be square, not round! The legislation also required that a privy (minter’s) mark be placed on each coin. However, later legislation changed the shape of the coin to round and no one has discovered yet the secret of the privy mark (if, indeed, any such marks were placed on the coins).

New England Shillings were struck for three months in 1652, after which the designs were replaced by the so-called “Willow Tree” Massachusetts Silver coins (also struck by Hull and Sanderson). The New England Shillings do not bear a date, and some may have been made illegally in later years.

Collectors have identified six different varieties of the New England Shillings, all of them extremely rare. Even Andy Hain, who built one of the finest and most complete collections of Massachusetts Silver coins, was able to locate only two different varieties for his collection.

Varieties: 1652 New England Shilling Noe I-A 16 Known, Noe I-D 4 Known, Noe II-A 13 Known, Noe III-A 6 Known, Noe III-B 11 Known, Noe III-C 18 Known,

1652 New England Sixpence Normal Letters (7 known) Delicate Letters (3-5 known, authenticity questioned)

1652 New England Threepence 1-2 known

Sources and/or recommended reading: Noe, Sydney P., "The Silver Coinage of Massachusetts", 1973, Quarterman Publications, Inc., Lawrence, MA. Mark Borckardt, Cataloger at Heritage Auctions. .