1652 Oak Tree Shilling - Oak Tree Coins were issued from 1660 to 1667. Except for the two pence, all Oak Tree coins have the date of 1652 to create the impression that they were struck after the English Civil War when Cromwell was in power. Thus the colonists were not being disloyal to the King; they created the fiction that they were merely using left over coins from Commonwealth days.

The two pence coins were dated 1662. In that year the King, who had been restored to the throne, was shown an Oak Tree shilling dated 1652. Rather than ordering reprisals for minting coins that was a prerogative of the crown, he took it in good humor calling the colonists “a parcel of honest doggs.”

This lustrous, near-Uncirculated 1652 shilling from the Massachusetts Bay Colony is the “Ghost” Oak Tree variety and is the finest known at PCGS and CAC. The silver coin is evenly patinated with highlights of iridescence around portions of the periphery on both sides. Shades of gunmetal gray, tan, silver, and gold are mixed, and it is these colors that affirm the coin’s originality.

The surfaces are remarkably clean with no visible abrasion marks, porosity or other distractions. The planchet is round except for a small straight clip at 3:00 done at the Mint to bring the weight down to the standard. The devices are well centered, and the coin is well struck, aside from the tree, with almost full inner beads on both sides. The outer bead circle is incomplete on the lower obverse, as is often the case even on Uncirculated examples. The tree has thin, weak branches, as made. The CAC sticker attests to the premium quality of the coin and indicates that it fully merits the assigned grade.

1652 Pine Tree Shilling - The Pine Tree coins were originally called “Boston” or “Bay Shillings.” Numerous varieties exist because the period of production was extended from 1662 to 1682. During this time the handmade dies wore out or broke easily, requiring constant replacement. In order to keep money in the colony, a law was passed in 1654 prohibiting exportation of more than twenty shillings upon penalty of total forfeiture. This law was needed because Massachusetts colonists traded with people of other colonies, and the coinage was constantly being depleted.

There were two types of Pine Tree issues the large and small. The coins were all dated 1652, when the Puritans took power from the English Royalists. Minted in quantity, the Large Shillings include AN DOM in the reverse legend. The Small Shillings use AN DO instead. There are numerous varieties because die steel was not readily available, and dies had to be reused.

The surfaces of this rare, mint state early colonial 1652 Pine Tree Shilling glisten with satin mint luster. They are predominantly caramel-gold with shades of blue-green throughout. The surfaces are original and unabraded. There is a faint, small lamination below the lower right-side branch. The coin was struck from a broken die that shows the two lowest left branches nearly merged and also connects obverse design elements from 5 to 6 o’clock.

The reverse is nearly perfectly centered, and the obverse is only slightly misaligned toward 6 o’clock resulting in a few missing border beads. The letters of the inscriptions are well separated from the edge and are well struck. The designs in the centers are clear but show moderate softness. The obverse of the coin shows a tree centered within a circle of beads. It is surrounded by the inscription MASATHVSETS followed by a small design of five dots surrounding a center dot and then IN. The reverse shows the date, 1652, and the denomination, XII, encircled by beads. The surrounding inscription is NEW ENGLAND. AN. DO. An outer circle of beads is at the edge of the periphery.