“Witch Pieces”
![[map: Colonial New England, 1652]](/shop/api/assets/LCCCatalogAssetStore/images/content/featureimages/pine-tree-coinage/witch-trial.jpg)
Early coins of the Massachusetts Bay Colony are often called "witch pieces", because people thought they were bent to offer protection against witchcraft. In fact, these coins sometimes appear bent because of the minting techniques used at the time. A rocker press, with curved dies, was used to make Oak Tree and early Pine Tree coinage.