1652 Pine Tree Shilling. Small Planchet. Noe-18, Salmon 4-B, W-845. Rarity-6+. VF Details--Surface Damage (PCGS).61.88 grains. One of the rarities in the Small Planchet Pine Tree shilling series. Medium gray with many tiny marks scattered over both obverse and reverse. A glass finds areas of granularity and some very fine ancient scratches. A dull dent between the letters LA in ENGLAND is more prominent on the obverse than on the reverse. The centering is nearly ideal on the obverse, aligned trivially to 5:30 on the reverse. Perhaps not the most beautiful specimen, but the variety is represented in this collection, something that could not be said of a long list of all-star Massachusetts silver offerings: NN48, NN59, NN60, Stearns, MHS (1970), Garrett, Roper, Picker, and Oechsner, for starters. The Newman piece was clipped and underweight (53.8 grains). Partrick acquired both the Norweb specimen and the higher grade Boyd-Ford coin. The Parmelee-Hain-Syd Martin coin is the only other memorably nice one to trade hands in recent years - last offered in our August 2023 Global Showcase Auction, lot 8191 (there was also a very pretty VF in our (American Numismatic Rarities) January 2005 Kennywood sale).PCGS# 915759. NGC ID: 2ARZ.From the Muddy River Collection. Earlier ex Lester Merkin, privately, December 4, 1979, to the following: our sale of the Henry P. Kendall Foundation Collection, March 2015 Baltimore Auction, lot 2400.
