Stack’s Bowers Galleries recently discovered and authenticated (with help from PCGS) an example of the 1652 New England threepence. This particular coin is the only example that can be privately owned, as the only other example resides at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The staff of the Boston Gallery was extremely excited to see the coin when it arrived at our office this week. To have the second-known example of this historic coin back in its hometown, less than a mile from where it was struck, is a numismatic experience that’s hard to top. That the coin may have a provenance connected to the Quincy family only adds to this sense of history.
Struck at the Hull Mint in Boston in 1652, the humble-looking New England coinage is historically significant, the first coins produced locally in Britain’s North American colonies. The shilling and sixpence are both known on the market, but only three examples of the three pence have ever been reported, the whereabouts of only two of which are still known. An example held in Yale’s numismatic collection went missing sometime in the 19th or 20th century. A 19th-century woodcut demonstrates that the example Stack’s Bowers Galleries will be featuring in the November Showcase Auction is not the example that disappeared from Yale, as that coin had a planchet split above the “NE” stamp.
Per our press release about the coin’s authentication, this coin may have a very impressive provenance: “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 AbigailAdams was a Quincy. In fact, future President JohnAdams 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 ThomasBrandHollis’ request for an NE shilling. It’s unknown if this coin came via Adams, but the connection appears likely.” https://coinweek.com/second-known-new-england-threepence-consigned-to-stacks-bowers-auction/\
The New England threepence will be offered in our November 2024 Showcase Auction. In the interim, anyone interested in seeing this incredible piece of American colonial history should visit the Boston Gallery at 84 State Street (at 22 Merchants Row)! We also have a nice selection of colonial and post-independence coins, paper money, and exonumia available. Contact the Boston store today for more information at 617-843-8343 or Boston@StacksBowers.com.
