LOT Heritage Rare Coin Galleries  /  2007 Jan (FUN) Heritage Signature Coin #422  / 

704

From The Jones Beach Collection.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:22,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 2.00 USD
From The Jones Beach Collection.
<B>1652 Willow Tree Shilling--Scratched--NCS. Fine Details.</B></I> 66.8 grains. Noe 3-E, Cr. 3-E, Rarity-7. After the NE coinage was struck in 1652, the Willow Tree shillings began to be produced the same year. The earlier varieties of Willow Tree shillings show how unfamiliar the coiner was with the rocker press. Most of the known examples from earlier dies display multiple impressions of the devices from multiple passes through the press in an attempt to more fully strike up the details in the dies. This is examined in detail in Louis Jordan's book <I>John Hull, The Mint and Economics of Massachusetts Coinage,</B></I> page 296:<BR><BR> " ... the dramatic nature of these errors, such as the erratic alignment of bead segments and the presence of fully double letters and numbers, suggests the rockers were not sufficiently secure in the press. Possibly, the tolerance of the die shank was not accurate so that there was not a tight fit when it was inserted into the opening in the shaft of the press. It is also possible the pins fastening the die shank to the press did not fully stabilize the die."<BR><BR> By the time the Noe (and Crosby) 3 dies were used, the operator of the press was more familiar with his craft, and these pieces do not exhibit the multiple impressions seen on earlier pieces. The only doubling of details on this coin is seen by a slight trace of a second inner border on the reverse.<BR> Only eight or so pieces are known of this variety, and at one time Stearns owned three examples! The remarkable part of this coin is that it shows full legends on both sides. The centers are predictably lacking details, except for the slightest trace of the tree branch and roots on the right side. The surfaces are deep gray with blue around the margins. Several shallow scratches are located in the centers of both obverse and reverse, which account for the "Scratched" designation from NCS.<BR><I>Ex: Stearns Collection (Mayflower Coin Auctions, 12/66), lot 9; Hain Family Collection (Stack's, 1/02), lot 11, where it brought $19,550.</B></I><BR><I>From The Jones Beach Collection.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coin/Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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