 1652 Massachusetts Bay Colony. Pine Tree Shilling. Large Planchet. Backwards N. N.4, Cr.5-B1, W.43. R-4. 69.4 gns. Gem Uncirculated. The Wurtzbach Plate Coin. Outstanding quality for one of these, one of the finest seen, nicer than the Norweb-Hain Noe 4 and the Roper-Hain ''N.4.5'' coins, for example. Both sides are toned in light gray with iridescent blue and pale gold showing. The piece has full mint lustre and frost and is lightly reflective when angled through the light. The mint-made S-shaped bend, a result of coining through a roller press, has created a shimmering surface for the piece which is very appealing. The obverse is extremely sharp with all of the root detail showing below the trunk and individual branches on the tree. The letters in the legend around are tight on the flan but are almost fully present and completely legible.
On the reverse the denomination and date are bold and the letters in the legend around are, as on the front, nearly entirely present and fully legible. The piece has remarkable eye appeal and is sure to become the centerpiece of a great collection of Massachusetts silver. Struck from the slightly later state of the reverse die, the die break in the lower left field beside X has grown now and is beginning to extend a tail to engage the smaller one that had formed to the left of I in the date, above. In an uncharacteristically restrained way Carl Wurtzbach described this piece on his collector's ticket simply as ''Unc. Gem coin.''
Ex Charles E. Clapp, Carl Wurtzbach, T. James Clarke, F.C.C. Boyd Collections.
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