1652 Oak Tree Shilling. Noe-2, Salmon 1-B, W-440. Rarity-7. ANDO--Cut to Sixpence Weight--EF-40, saltwater surfaces.29.2 grains. A rare and well produced fractional sixpence with dark and granular surfaces from saltwater exposure. Cleanly cut in half diagonally, leaving us with the lower portion of the tree and a nearly full denomination. The planchet is slightly bent but considerable detail remains, and the legends are mostly intact on each side. Of the several cut fractions from the Feversham treasure offered in this sale, this is perhaps the most impressive. <p><p><p><p>The rarity of this cut format must not overshadow the importance of the Noe-2 shilling it was produced from. The Noe-2 is a very rare variety, easy to discern from the similar Noe-1 by virtue of its medal-turn alignment rather than the typical coin-turn alignment of the Noe-1. Another major distinction between the two varieties is the punctuation before NEW on the reverse, though this feature has been cut of the present specimen. The rarity of this variety was recognized early on and was expressed well in the cataloguing of the 1966 Stearns sale: "N-2 is the only Oak Tree with a rosette. It is almost impossible to obtain." The Boyd-Ford collection included just one specimen; the 1970 Appleton-MHS sale, Garrett, Picker, and Oechsner had none.<p>From the Robert M. Martin Collection.Ex HMS Feversham; our (Stacks) Americana Sale of January 1999, lot 39; our sale of the Kendall Foundation Collection, March 2015, lot 2319.
