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Dallas Signature Sale 1373 28-31 Mar 2024
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Colonials
1652 Willow Tree Shilling, Salmon 3-C -- Clipped -- NGC. Noe 3-C, W-180, High R.6. 57.0 grains. Die orientation: 315º. A well-circulated example of this rare colonial type, though with enough of the legends and various occasional details present to retain considerable interest. The obverse is off-center, partly due to clipping but also due to strike. The Willow Tree coins always exhibit evidence of multiple strikes, regardless of denomination, because they were produced by essentially the same minting technique -- cold striking with a silversmith's hammer -- used for the previous NE series. The hand-hammering technique was clearly inadequate for the larger dies of the Willow Tree series, but the nascent mint at Boston had yet to acquire a rocker press. The results are readily apparent. Most of the inner dotted circle is visible on this piece, and tracing it demonstrates that it was struck at least three, and perhaps four, times. The central detail is very weak, but the + placed above the very top of the tree is readily apparent beneath the right upright of the M in MASATHVSETS, giving us a very good point for visual orientation. The tree's groundline is mostly clear, and traces of the trunk and peripheral branches can be seen. The beginning of the legend is complete, if jumbled, with MASATH spaced irregularly but clearly discernable. The remainder of the obverse legend is off-planchet.
The reverse is more difficult to interpret. Well-centered, the broken arcs of the inner dotted circle demonstrate clearly that the coin was produced by multiple strikes of a hammer. The central date and denomination are wholly missing, but more than half of the legend remains. Starting at 4 o'clock, the opening NEWEN of NEWENGLAND is readily apparent, despite some doubling at the W. The following GL is lost to overstriking, though the AN following can be made out at least in part. The final letters of ANDOM can be seen, which is significant because this is the only reverse die of the Willow Tree type in which there is no punctuation after the final M (AN DOM is abbreviated A.D: on the threepence, but even there the D is followed by a colon). This area is perfectly clear on this example.
While worn and somewhat clipped, the present Willow Tree shilling provides a good amount of interest to the colonial specialist and an affordable choice for the type collector, with distinct partial legends on both sides and with inner circles that reflect strike multiplicity and the manner of manufacture. The surfaces bear a scattering of marks and nicks from what must have been an extensive period of circulation, but few of them are distracting. A couple of deeper marks are noted in the area around SA in the obverse legend, and both central portions of the coin exhibit hairlines. The coloration of the coin, a darker gray with lighter silver highlights, is original. This is a modest, but interesting, example of this scarce variety that was lacking from the Boyd-Ford Collection. We have records of 12 examples. Refer to our October 2022 Long Beach Signature auction for a detailed census. Listed on page 35 of the 2024 Guide Book.
Ex: The Christopher J. Salmon Collection of Massachusetts Silver, Part III / FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2023), lot 3629.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/colonials/1652-willow-tree-shilling-salmon-3-c-clipped-ngc-noe-3-c-w-180-high-r6/a/1373-3002.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-USCoins-1373-03282024
HID02906262019
© 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
1652 Willow Tree Shilling, Salmon 3-C -- Clipped -- NGC. Noe 3-C, W-180, High R.6. 57.0 grains. Die orientation: 315º. A well-circulated example of this rare colonial type, though with enough of the legends and various occasional details present to retain considerable interest. The obverse is off-center, partly due to clipping but also due to strike. The Willow Tree coins always exhibit evidence of multiple strikes, regardless of denomination, because they were produced by essentially the same minting technique -- cold striking with a silversmith's hammer -- used for the previous NE series. The hand-hammering technique was clearly inadequate for the larger dies of the Willow Tree series, but the nascent mint at Boston had yet to acquire a rocker press. The results are readily apparent. Most of the inner dotted circle is visible on this piece, and tracing it demonstrates that it was struck at least three, and perhaps four, times. The central detail is very weak, but the + placed above the very top of the tree is readily apparent beneath the right upright of the M in MASATHVSETS, giving us a very good point for visual orientation. The tree's groundline is mostly clear, and traces of the trunk and peripheral branches can be seen. The beginning of the legend is complete, if jumbled, with MASATH spaced irregularly but clearly discernable. The remainder of the obverse legend is off-planchet.
The reverse is more difficult to interpret. Well-centered, the broken arcs of the inner dotted circle demonstrate clearly that the coin was produced by multiple strikes of a hammer. The central date and denomination are wholly missing, but more than half of the legend remains. Starting at 4 o'clock, the opening NEWEN of NEWENGLAND is readily apparent, despite some doubling at the W. The following GL is lost to overstriking, though the AN following can be made out at least in part. The final letters of ANDOM can be seen, which is significant because this is the only reverse die of the Willow Tree type in which there is no punctuation after the final M (AN DOM is abbreviated A.D: on the threepence, but even there the D is followed by a colon). This area is perfectly clear on this example.
While worn and somewhat clipped, the present Willow Tree shilling provides a good amount of interest to the colonial specialist and an affordable choice for the type collector, with distinct partial legends on both sides and with inner circles that reflect strike multiplicity and the manner of manufacture. The surfaces bear a scattering of marks and nicks from what must have been an extensive period of circulation, but few of them are distracting. A couple of deeper marks are noted in the area around SA in the obverse legend, and both central portions of the coin exhibit hairlines. The coloration of the coin, a darker gray with lighter silver highlights, is original. This is a modest, but interesting, example of this scarce variety that was lacking from the Boyd-Ford Collection. We have records of 12 examples. Refer to our October 2022 Long Beach Signature auction for a detailed census. Listed on page 35 of the 2024 Guide Book.
Ex: The Christopher J. Salmon Collection of Massachusetts Silver, Part III / FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2023), lot 3629.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/colonials/1652-willow-tree-shilling-salmon-3-c-clipped-ngc-noe-3-c-w-180-high-r6/a/1373-3002.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-USCoins-1373-03282024
HID02906262019
© 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved