Willow Tree CoinageStruck 1652 to 1660

1652 Massachusetts Bay Colony
Willow Tree Sixpence
Noe 1-A, Cr.7. URS-6. 35.8 grains.
Choice Very Fine.

Noe Census #10 Coin. Noe Plate Coin. The Official Red Book plate coin, 2007 to the current edition.

Rare: There is only one die for this coin and to date, 13 of these are known. In the 2005 Stack's John J. Ford, Jr. sale, the cataloger said of this specimen:

"There are certainly a few more out there. This one is in fairly "typical" condition for one of these (if that word can be applied to something as rare as this, that is)."

This sixpence was shown in the February 1927 edition of The Numismatist on page 87.

Provenance: Ex: E.J. French 1926 #177; F.C.C. Boyd; John J. Ford, Jr., October 2005 #11; Anthony Terranova; present owner

1652 Massachusetts Bay Colony
Willow Tree Shilling
Noe 1-A, Crosby 1-A. URS-5. 71.6 grains.
Extremely Fine.

This is "America's First Dated Coin." Design authorized in October 1652. Noe Census #2 Coin. Noe Plate Coin. Noe Enlargement Coin. 1914 ANS Exhibition Coin. The Official Red Book plate coin, 2007 to the current edition.

Today, most experts agree this coin was made by the rocker press, which was used to strike the series. Walter Breen said:

"Only 27 Willow Shillings are known to date; only six of them are the present variety (1-A). Three of those are in museums, which means that this shilling is exactly as rare as the Class I 1804 dollar, as well as being much more historically important. It is VF or better, but has been bent twice and straightened. Ill. in the Standard Catalogue. Ex Newcomer 3066 (cost $78.25), H. Chapman (ill. as his coin in ANS 1914 Exhibition, Plate 39); Parsons:3, Earle 1919, Mills 5, Parmelee 307, Bushnell 142, Woodward Sale of 4/28/63 (Brooks, Colburn etc. consignments), Jeremiah Colburn Coll. where ill. on Plate XX, No. iv [2, incorrectly cited by Breen] of the supplement to Dickeson's Manual (1860), Crosby 1bA2; Noe Plate III & Enlargement Plate VIII. One of perhaps four known American coins outside the Mint Coll. which can be traced back to 1860 or before – the others being the Abbey cent, Stickney dollar, and 1792 Peter Getz $ 1/2 with the chisel mark."

Provenance: Ex: Jeremiah Colburn, Woodward Sale, April 1863, (Brooks, Colburn etc. consignments); Bushnell 1882 #142; Parmelee #307; Mills #5; Earle 1919; Parsons #3; H. Chapman; Waldo Newcomer #3066; T.J. Clarke; John J. Ford, Jr., October 2005 #6; present owner.