 1652 Massachusetts Bay Colony. Oak Tree Shilling. N.10, Cr.6a-E1. The Ghost Tree. R-6+. 72.3 gns. Choice Very Fine. A sharp example of this rare variety. There was no N.10 in Picker, MHS (1970), or NN's 59th or 60th sales. Nowhere near as fine as Garrett's but sharper than Hain's, Norweb's tooled one, all four that were in the Stearns sale, Roper's, and the one in NN's 48th sale. Both the obverse and reverse of this piece are toned in a deep coin silver gray shade with areas of light golden iridescence around portions of the periphery on each. Typical tree structure on a Noe-10, the branches, trunk and shrubs almost entirely indistinct, consisting principally of incuse impressions in the flan. Letters in the peripheral legend around much sharper as expected. Reverse much sharper than on the front with most letters full and the denomination and date bold.
Both sides fairly well centered. Planchet structure somewhat uneven, almost certainly as made with pronounced bends visible in the obverse periphery at 7:00 and 12:00. Holed and plugged, most obvious from the obverse at about 6:00. Die states about as seen on the Noe plate specimen. Described on its collector's ticket as ''Delicate skeleton like tree with two shrubs. Even impression. Pinhead dent. Very Fine.''
Ex George M. Parsons Collection (Henry Chapman, June 24, 1914, lot 6); F.C.C. Boyd Collection.
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