1652 MASSACHUSETTS
"OAK TREE" SHILLING -
NOE 10
Variety equivalents:
Crosby 6a-E1, Breen 20
Rarity: Very Rare
Notes:
The tree is rarely to barely visible on most examples of Noe 10, Breen
nicknamed this the "Delicate Tree" variety. In the January
2002 sale of the Hain Family collection (Stack's), cataloguer Michael
Hodder called this the "Ghost Tree" variety.
The Hain Family collection
had only one example of this variety.
The obverse and reverse dies
of this variety were also used later (after the die was reworked) on:
Noe 11
Noe 12
Noe 12.5
The Noe and Breen plates are
of the same coin, except that the Breen plates have been
"clipped" to make the coin appear rounder!
|
Images courtesy of Heritage
Numismatic Auctions, Inc.
Significant examples:
Garrett - "Finest Seen"
(according to Hodder in the description of the Hain Family's coin)
"Fine to Very Fine"
(67.7 grains). Ex - Vlack collection - Stack's "Hain Family
Collection", January 15, 2002, Lot 36,
sold for $2,300.00
PCGS Fine-12 (illustrated
above, 73.3 grains). Ex -
Wesley Van Olden - Heritage Numismatic Auctions, Inc. "Long Beach Sale",
September 18-20, 2003, Lot 5003, illustrated
"Good-6".
Ex - Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Inc.,
"Pre-Long Beach Sale", September 15-17, 2993, Lot 1, illustrated,
"Good-6. 67.6 grains. Heavily scratched on the date side and
completely missing the tree and some of the legends. This variety needs a
bit of an explanation, as this coin is actually nicer than it seems.
First, this is a very rare variety, still rated a full Rarity-6 by most
experts. Second, this variety is known as the "Delicate Tree"
(or "Ghost Tree" per Michael Hodder) and most examples known
have either a barely visible tree or no tree at all. The Hain Family
Noe-10, sold by Stack's in January 2002, is a perfect illustration. Like
the piece offered here, the Hain Family showed virtually no tree and was
weakly struck at the bottom of both sides, yet was still assigned a grade
of "Fine to Very Fine." So, in the final analysis, this is
actually a rather desirable example of a very rare Massachusetts Silver
variety.", sold for $747.50
Picker
MHS
Norweb (tooled)
Stearns (had four)
Mitchelson collection
(71.4 grains). Flip-over double strike
American Antiquarian
Society (73.0 grains). Listed by Noe.
Sources and/or
recommended reading:
Sydney P. Noe, "The Silver Coinage of
Massachusetts" (out of print)
"Walter
Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins" by
Walter Breen (purchase a copy by clicking on the title)
|
