Found in a Candy Tin: One of the First Coins Struck in Colonial North America #coin #archaeology #Massachusetts #history

The simple coin design was quickly replaced, leaving only 40 or so surviving specimens today. Courtesy of Morton and Eden

The Cool Finds column at Smithsonian Magazine has a story about a remarkable find.  A one shilling coin minted in 1652 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony was found in a candy tin.  One of 40 known to exist, it was sold at auction for $351,912. 

A silver coin minted in colonial Boston in 1652 has sold for $351,912. The one shilling coin is one of just 40 of its kind known to survive today, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

“I am not surprised at the amount of interest this exceptional coin attracted,” says James Morton, a coin specialist with London-based auction house Morton and Eden, in a statement. “The price paid ... reflects its extraordinary historic significance and outstanding original state of preservation. The fact that it was previously completely unknown, together with its distinguished provenance, simply added to its appeal.”

Morton and Eden sold the coin on behalf of Wentworth “Wenty” Beaumont, a descendant of early New England settler William Wentworth. Beaumont’s father recently discovered the artifact in a candy tin containing hundreds of old coins at the family’s estate in Northumberland, England.

“I can only assume that the shilling was brought back from America years ago by one of my forebears,” says Beaumont in the statement.

After the long-forgotten tin resurfaced, Beaumont brought it to Morton, who realized that the container included specimens from all over the world, spanning the ancient era through the 1970s, reports Sophie Corcoran for PA Media.

“I could see straight away that there were plenty of interesting pieces alongside some ordinary modern coins, but there was one simple silver disc which immediately jumped out at me,” says Morton in a separate Morton and Eden statement. “I could hardly believe my eyes when I realized that it was an excellent example of a New England shilling, struck by John Hull in 1652 in Boston for use as currency by early settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.”