The Only Example Available to Collectors
The 1652 New England threepence has been recognized as the single rarest colonial coin by American collectors since before the Civil War. With only one specimen known, locked away in the Massachusetts Historical Society since 1905, the unique NE threepence was utterly non-collectible. A second specimen, once in the Yale Cabinet, was stolen decades ago and never recovered. None have been in a private collection since the death of William Sumner Appleton in 1903, but a newly discovered specimen will be featured in the November 2024 Stack’s Bowers Galleries auction. Recently authenticated by PCGS and graded EF-45, this new coin is clearly the finest extant example, sharper than the holed Massachusetts Historical Society coin. It was initially discovered in an antique cabinet among a handful of other U.S. colonial coins in the Netherlands in 2016, though not actually identified as a NE threepence until 2020.
The newly discovered coin’s provenance is traced to Boston’s Quincy family, who were prominent participants in Massachusetts politics throughout the colonial era. First Lady Abigail Adams was a Quincy. In fact, future President John Adams wrote to Abigail from Amsterdam in 1781 to request “a few of the New England shillings. Pray send me, half a dozen if you can procure them by different Occasions,” in response to well known English numismatist Thomas Brand Hollis’ request for an NE shilling. It’s unknown if this coin came via Adams, but the connection appears likely.
The Yale University specimen, lost before the mid 20th century, was illustrated in a 19th century woodcut as having a planchet split above E of NE that was also visible at the base of the reverse. No rumor of its existence has been heard since before a major 1965 burglary at Yale focused attention on its collection; several curators and researchers at the time confirmed the Yale threepence was long gone by then.
This new 1652 New England threepence will be a featured highlight of the Stack’s Bowers Galleries November 2024 Showcase Auction, held in conjunction with the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Winter Expo in Baltimore. Ahead of the sale, this treasure will also be on display at the firm’s Boston gallery during the month of September to commemorate the first striking of NE silver coins in Boston in September 1652. More about the newly discovered New England threepence can be found here. To consign your coins alongside this historic rarity or for questions about the sale, contact Stack’s Bowers Galleries at Consign@StacksBowers.com or 800.566.2580.
