Rare silver coin minted in colonial New England sells for Rs 2.61 crore

One of the first coins minted in Colonial New England, recently found in a candy jar among other coins, sold for more than $ 350,000, more than expected, the auctioneer said Friday. The one-shilling silver coin made in Boston in 1652 – considered the finest example of only a few dozen such coins still known – was sold to an anonymous online bidder from the United States, Morton & Eden Ltd. announced. based in London in a statement with. The auctioneer had expected a sales price of around $ 300,000. “I’m not surprised at how much interest this extraordinary coin has drawn,” said coin specialist James Morton in a statement. “The price paid above the estimated price reflects the extraordinary historical importance and the excellent original condition.”

Before 1652, coins from England, the Netherlands, the Spanish Empire, and other nations were used as currency in New England.

But a lack of coins caused the Massachusetts General Court to appoint John Hull as the Boston Mintmaster, responsible for making North America’s first silver coins. The mint, which was considered treasonable by King Charles II, was closed in 1682, according to the auctioneer.

The simple coin bears the initials NE for New England on one side and the Roman numeral XII, which represents the 12 pfennigs in one shilling, on the other.

The coin was auctioned by Wentworth “Wenty” Beaumont, whose father recently found it in a candy jar containing hundreds of old coins in his study on his family’s estate in England.

Beaumont is a descendant of William Wentworth, an early settler of New England. The Wentworths became one of the most famous families in New Hampshire.

Beaumont speculated that an ancestor brought the coin to Britain from the colonies.

Several other rare American coins were also sold at the auction, including a pair of 1,776 tin dollars that grossed nearly $ 80,000 each and a Libertas Americana bronze medal that grossed more than $ 17,000.

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