 1652 Massachusetts Bay Colony. Oak Tree Shilling. N.3, Cr.9-G. R-6. 72.1 gns. Choice Extremely Fine. A lovely specimen. Both the obverse and reverse are a light coin silver gray in color. The centers are fairly sharp while the peripheries are soft in places and in others entirely off the flan. Obverse off center to the upper right with the tops of MASATH off the flan. On the reverse the die was a little off to the lower right, unusual for the variety, with the tops of some letters running off the flan. Softly struck on the right obverse periphery, some letters entirely indistinct at about 3:00; reverse quite soft on the left and upper left with portions of the lettering entirely indistinct although the softness on DO is due to die wear and not striking (as seen on the Noe plate coin). Remarkable iridescence and frost on the reverse, the coin has all the appearance of a Unc. on this side.
An instructive piece, its close resemblance to the Noe plate coin and another of the Boyd-Ford specimens suggests there was something common to all N.3's that lay in their method of manufacture. A follow on to this, first proposed by Vicken Yegparian of our staff, is the hypothesis that there was more than one die pair on the rollers used to coin the Oak Tree coins. Vicken posits two or more obverses on one roller and the same number of reverse dies on the other roller, a suggestion that makes economical sense for the coiners and that is extremely interesting because it is quite original. If accurate, one wonders what other die or dies might have shared the same rollers with the obverse and reverse of Oak Shilling Noe 3? Might they have been a sixpence die pair, another shilling, or perhaps a small threepence or even a twopence? Is there a way of determining the accuracy of the hypothesis besides logic? There are more questions still unanswered in the Massachusetts silver series than we suspect.
Ex F.C.C. Boyd Collection.
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