1652 Oak Tree Shilling. Noe-3, Salmon 1-C, W-450. Rarity-6. ANDO. VF Details--Environmental Damage (PCGS). 62.03 grains. 27.9 x 29.0 mm. Struck in medal turn. A crude production, with the obverse showing its usual alignment to 3 oclock and the reverse shifted to 6 oclock. The planchet shows a fairly straight edge, natural and untrimmed, in the northwest quadrant of the obverse. The right side of the obverse is a bit more ragged but similar in texture. The crudity of the planchet has nothing to do with the environmental damage found on the surfaces, with some dark scale and granularity acquired from ground exposure. Where struck up, the designs are quite sharp, but the right side of the obverse is not well defined, nor is most of the reverse periphery, a by-product of dies that are poorly aligned on both axes, an obverse die that is failing at 3 oclock, and a planchet that never gave those dies a chance. This is a rare variety, always crude in execution. This particular specimen has more in common with Ford:19 and Ford:20 than the superb Ford:18 coin; the Stearns coin is similarly oversized, and the NN59 coin is similarly rough. Perhaps not beautiful, but fascinating nonetheless, and with more to teach about the production methods of Oak Tree shillings than most prettier ones. From our sale of the Henry P. Kendall Foundation Collection, March 2015, lot 2320.
