Extremely Rare New England Shilling to Sell in Heritage's ANA Sale

Dallas, Texas: A rare New England Shilling has been consigned to Heritage's Atlanta ANA Signature Sale as part of the Dr. Joseph M. Seventko Collection. Heritage's sale, the official auction of the Atlanta ANA Convention, will be conducted August 6-11.

"The New England Shilling issues of 1652 are a personal favorite of mine," noted Heritage Co-Chairman Jim Halperin. "The NE inscription on the obverse of these coins was my logo when I founded New England Rare Coin Galleries. Interestingly, I have not handled a New England Shilling since joining Heritage in 1983, despite the fact that we have bought, sold, and auctioned more than $2 billion in rare coins over the past 18 years. That is a clear indicator of the rarity of this early Colonial issue."

"This is an original, mid-grade representative of this rare issue," stated Heritage Executive VP Greg Rohan. "PCGS has certified this coin as VF 20, and the planchet weighs 70.8 grains. It is an example of the Noe-III-C variety. The denomination XII, for Twelvepence, or 1 Shilling, is readily evident on the reverse, although a little worn. There are some planchet flaws near the upper obverse border. These features are as struck, and they explain why the NE inscription is not fully defined. Otherwise, the planchet is relatively smooth for a circulated example, with original, medium gray color."

Continued Halperin: "Fewer than 50 NE Shillings total of the six known varieties are believed extant today. We have traced the pedigree of this example back to 1972."

"As a historian of Colonial America, the silver issues of the Massachusetts Bay Colony have always been of keen interest to me," stated Bob Korver, Heritage's Director of Auctions. "By the 1630s, the British had virtually stripped this colony of circulating specie, while at the same time forbidding Massachusetts from producing its own coinage through the passage of royal edicts. In the late 1640s, however, King Charles I was executed, royalist forces were defeated at the Battle of Worcester, and the royal edicts lost the enforcement power that they possessed before the English Revolution. During May 1652, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony authorized John Hull and Robert Saunderson to produce silver disks of proper weight for Shilling, Sixpence, and Threepence denominations. All of these coins were produced between June 11 and October 19, 1652. The ease with which these simply designed coins could be clipped and passed at full value led to their replacement by the Willow Tree issues in 1653. Today, the NE issues are widely collected as the first coins produced in what is now the United States."

The Heritage Group includes Heritage Rare Coin Galleries, Heritage Numismatic Auctions, and Currency Auctions of America, which together comprise the world's largest dealer and auctioneer of rare coins and currency. The Heritage name is recognized worldwide for selection, quality, value, expertise, financial strength and technological and numismatic leadership. Year 2000 sales exceeded $150 million and assets were approximately $30 million as audited by Arthur Andersen & Company. www.HeritageCoin.com is the Internet's most popular and highly trafficked rare coin site with over 37,000 registered members and approximately 80,000 unique users per month. HeritageCoin.com is the only coin site ever chosen by Forbes Best of the Web. McGraw Hill recently recommended its "Virtual Coin Collection" as an excellent teaching resource. It also won the most recent Numismatic Literary Guild award for Best Numismatic Web Site.