National Numismatic Collection

The National Numismatic Collection is comprised of approximately 1.6 million objects and is thought to be the largest collection of money and transactional objects in the world. Its diverse holdings represent every inhabited continent and span more than three millennia.

The collection has grown from a few thousand objects in the mid-19th century to its present size through donations from public institutions and private collections.

The National Numismatic Collection is unrivaled in its holdings of American material. It is the U.S. monetary system's collection of record and includes the extraordinary collections of the U.S. Mint, Treasury, and Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

A small portion of the National Numismatic Collection is available here. The National Numismatic Collection is currently working to develop digitization initiatives in order to make the national collection more accessible to the public.

One (1) pine tree shilling coinMassachusetts, 1652Obverse Image: Pine tree.Obverse Text: MASATHVSETS / INReverse Image: N/AReverse Text: NEW ENGLAND / AN DOM / 1652 XIIAs early as 1650, the colony of Massachusetts Bay was a commercial success.
Description (Brief)
One (1) pine tree shilling coin
Massachusetts, 1652
Obverse Image: Pine tree.
Obverse Text: MASATHVSETS / IN
Reverse Image: N/A
Reverse Text: NEW ENGLAND / AN DOM / 1652 XII
Description
As early as 1650, the colony of Massachusetts Bay was a commercial success. But an inadequate supply of money put its future development in jeopardy. England was not inclined to send gold and silver coins to the colonies, for they were in short supply in the mother country.
Taking matters into their own hands, Boston authorities allowed two settlers, John Hull and Robert Sanderson, to set up a mint in the capital in 1652. The two were soon striking silver coinage-shillings, sixpences, and threepences. Nearly all of the new coins bore the same date: 1652.
This was the origin of America's most famous colonial coin, the pine tree shilling. The name comes from the tree found on the obverse. It may symbolize one of the Bay Colony's prime exports, pine trees for ships' masts. Massachusetts coinage not only circulated within that colony, but was generally accepted throughout the Northeast, becoming a monetary standard in its own right.
Why the 1652 date? Some believe that it was intended to commemorate the founding of the Massachusetts mint, which did occur in 1652. Others believe the choice was a reflection of larger political events. Coinage was a prerogative of the King. In theory, these colonists had no right to strike their own coins, no matter how great their need.
But in 1652, there was no king. King Charles had been beheaded three years previously, and England was a republic. The people in Massachusetts may have cleverly decided to put that date on their coinage so that they could deny any illegality when and if the monarchy were reestablished.
This "1652" shilling is likely to have been minted around 1670. In 1682, the Hull/Sanderson mint closed after closer royal scrutiny of the operation.
date on coin
1652
date made
1667 - 1674
maker
Massachusetts Bay Colony
ID Number
1982.0798.0009
catalog number
1982.0798.0009
accession number
1982.0798
catalog number
82.48.09

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