1652 Willow Tree Shilling XF40 PCGS. Noe 3-D, W-190, Salmon 3-D, R.7. ...

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1652 Willow Tree Shilling, XF40
The Finest Known Salmon 3-D
Ex: Wurtzbach, Clarke, Boyd

1652 Willow Tree Shilling XF40 PCGS. Noe 3-D, W-190, Salmon 3-D, R.7. 69.6 grains. Ex: Donald G. Partrick Collection. A well-defined Willow Tree shilling that displays all but the upper-left portion of the tree. The denomination is bold, as is the 16 in the date. The obverse legend is sharp except for the V and second A. The reverse peripheral legend is mostly present but lacks GLA and the A in AN DOM. There is little evidence of the multiple strikes associated with Willow Tree coinage, aside from a jumbled reverse legend near 5 o'clock. The sea-green and dove-gray surfaces are attractive, and problem-free aside from a dull, narrow mark on the upper left branches of the tree.

The present lot is the Noe plate coin for Reverse Die D (plate XI). It is also featured on Noe plate V, along with four other examples of the variety available to Sydney P. Noe. In addition, it is the 1914 ANS Exhibition plate coin for the variety, then on loan from Carl Wurtzbach. Since it is absent from the 1937 Wurtzbach photographic plates of his collection, it had to have been sold by Wurtzbach to Virgil Brand prior to that time. Wurtzbach acquired the coin a second time from the Brand estate in 1937.

Walter Breen's notes on the coin were included in the Ford lot description:

"Noe 16 (3-D); only six known. Fine or better, all but 2 or 3 letters of inscription legible; much better than it appears in Noe's illustration (Plate V and Enl. Pl. XI). Ex Wurtzbach (1938), Brand estate (1937), Wurtzbach (1911) and S.H. Chapman, who purchased it in England. Ill. Plate 1, ANS 1914 Exhibition. Said by its former owner to be one of the 3 finest known, but we will be conservative and say that we know only three or four distinctly better-looking examples."

All Willow Tree die varieties are very rare. We are aware of only nine Salmon 3-D shillings:

1. XF40 PCGS. Noe #16 and Plate XI. S.H. Chapman; Carl Wurtzbach; Virgil Brand; Carl Wurtzbach; T. James Clarke; F.C.C. Boyd; John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XII (Stack's, 10/2005), lot 8; Donald Groves Partrick (Heritage, 1/2015), lot 5522; Collection of a Patriotic American / ANA Signature (Heritage, 8/2019), lot 3632. The present coin.
2. XF. Purchased by Emery May Norweb from Fred Baldwin, 5/1963; Norweb Collection, Part I (Bowers and Merena, 10/1987), lot 1156; Hain Family Collection (Stack's, 1/2002), lot 9.
3. VF. Emanuel Wertman Collection (Henry Chapman, 11/1910); Norweb Collection, Part I (Bowers and Merena, 10/1987), lot 1155; Hain Family Collection (Stack's, 1/2002), lot 10.
4. VF, estimated grade. Noe #17 and Plate XI. Dr. Thomas Hall; Virgil Brand.
5. Fine to VF. Noe #18. J.W. Scott; ANS Exhibition 1914, Plate XIII; Ezra Collection (Bowers and Merena, 1/1986), lot 1103.
6. Fine. Noe #20. Waldo C. Newcomer; Col. Green; F.C.C. Boyd; John J. Ford, Jr.; Philip Benedetti; Gore Collection; Kensington Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, 12/1975), lot 216. Called the finest known in the Bowers and Ruddy catalog.
7. Good-VG. New York Public Library Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, 10/1982), lot 2002. Indistinct at centers.
8. Damaged. Noe #19. (Barney Bluestone, 12/1942), lot 615; American Numismatic Society. Clipped to 53.4 grains.
9. Damaged. Hudson Valley Collection (Heritage, 4/2002), lot 7630. Corroded and repaired.

Listed on page 35 of the 2024 Guide Book.
From The James E. Blake Collection of United States Colonial Coins & Tokens.

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 2ARC, PCGS# 16, Greysheet# 7)

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