 1652 Massachusetts Bay Colony. Pine Tree Shilling. Large Planchet. Backwards N. N.9, Cr.1b-C, W.38. R-6. 73.3 gns. Choice Extremely Fine. The Wurtzbach Plate Coin. A rather nice example with outstanding quality for one of these, nicer than Hain's better coin, Norweb's, and a rival to the Noe plate coin (ex T. James Clarke and F.C.C. Boyd) that Mr. Ford sold in NN's 60th Sale. Both sides are toned in deep gray with iridescent blue and very pale gold showing. The tree is somewhat soft as expected with the lowest branches beginning to fade out entirely. The letters in the legend around have been strengthened in the die and are a little sharper now, particularly at the left with only the second A really fading. There are some elongations visible at the top around HV caused by the roller dies that made these shillings.
On the reverse the central denomination and date are sharp and the letters in the legend around are entirely on flan and are soft only at the upper right. The piece is a little irregular in shape having been clipped at the top and lower left at the mint, to reduce the weight down to statutory. Carl Wurtzbach described this piece as ''Extremely Fine'' on his collector's ticket. As noted in the Hain catalogue the real rarity of Noe 9 may still be underestimated even at R-6.
Ex Charles E. Clapp, Carl Wurtzbach, T. James Clarke, F.C.C. Boyd Collections.
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