Object Details
maker
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Description (Brief)
One (1) New England shilling coin
Massachusetts, 1652
Obverse Image: N/A
Obverse Text: NE
Reverse Image: N/A
Reverse Text: XII
Description
Boston was founded in 1630. Within two decades, it had become a prosperous, thriving community, engaging in legal trade with the mother country and clandestine trade with Spanish America.
Perpetually short of coinage, the proper Bostonians came up with an unorthodox idea: they would take a portion of the silver coming in from the south, melt it down, and make coins from it. Their first efforts were modest. They recast the silver, beat it into thin sheets, then cut more-or-less round blanks from it. The blanks were struck with simple designs, once on each side.
The resulting coins were fairly easy to counterfeit. They were very easy to clip off some of the metal (and a portion of their value would be thereby removed). Embarrassed bureaucrats soon legislated more sophisticated designs that took up all of each side of the coin.
Credit Line
Emery May Holden Norweb
date made
1652
ID Number
NU.82.48.01
accession number
1982.0798
catalog number
82.48.01
Object Name
coin
Physical Description
silver (overall metal)
0 (overall die axis)
0 (overall die axis measurement)
struck (overall production method)
Measurements
overall: .1 cm x 2.8 cm; 1/32 in x 1 3/32 in
place made
United States: Massachusetts
Related Publication
Feingold, Ellen R.. Value of Money, The
Glossary of Coins and Currency Terms
Related Web Publication
http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/glossary.cfm
See more items in
Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
Coins, Currency and Medals
Exhibition
Value of Money
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1076337