 1652 Massachusetts Bay Colony. Pine Tree Shilling. Large Planchet. N.3, Cr.3-F. R-6. 73.7 gns. Choice Extremely Fine. Crosby II, 2 Plate Coin. Lovely quality for one of these rare Noe 3s. Hain's best was an AU. Garrett and Norweb both had an AU. Roper's was EF, Oechsner's was a VF ex NN's 48th Sale and the NN 60th coin was a VF. This is another of those remarkable Pine Tree shillings from this collection that has wonderful eye appeal. Both sides are bright silver gray and light gold in color. The tree is sharp, full, bold and fills up the center quite nicely. The legend around, IN MASATHVSETS, is sharp and clear and almost entirely on flan.
On the reverse the central denomination and date are sharp and the letters in the legend around NEWENGLAND AN DOM are fully on flan save at the left where they were clipped straight at the Mint to reduce the weight down to a more statutory level. The piece shows some bright flash when angled in the light and there are tantalizing suggestions of original mint frost visible in places around the peripheries of both sides. A previous collector described this on the ticket that accompanies the lot as ''Shilling. Large tree and letters. The specimen on plate II, No. II Crosby. Extremely Fine. One of the finest.'' Noe 3 is quite rare with a current population estimate of only 10 to 15 known.
Ex John G. Mills Collection (S.H. & H. Chapman, April 27, 1904, lot 32); F.C.C. Boyd Collection.
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