On May 27, 1652 an act was passed by the Massachusetts General Court providing for the establishment of a mint. Over the next few weeks the Court hashed out the specifics of the mint’s location and operation. It was determined that John Hull, a silversmith, would become mintmaster, along with Hull’s friend Robert Sanderson assisting.
Controversy surrounds the actual reasons for the creation of a mint at this time. Phillip Mossman states in his incredible book “Money of the American Colonies and Confederation” that, “the mint came into existence as a reaction to the lightweight, counterfeit, and debased silver coins which appeared in New England very quickly after the initial settlements.” This might very well be the case because just a few years earlier it was discovered that the Spanish silver currency coming from the Potosi mint was consistently underweight. Considering that Spanish silver was the dominant medium of exchange in the colonies at this time, it could be very damaging to the early economy if corrective measures weren’t taken.
At some point between September 1 and October 19, 1652 coinage commenced. The coins were to conform to a standard of 72 grains of sterling (.925) silver to the shilling, a shilling being equivalent to 12 pence. The New England coinage consisted of three denominations: threepence, sixpence, and shilling. On one side, now considered the obverse, was a hand punched “NE” at the 12 o’clock position. The reverse was punched with the denomination, represented by a Roman numeral III, VI, or XII. No date appears on this initial design from Hull’s Boston mint, the first of his four issues.
In the July 5, 2010 issue of Coin World, staff writer Steve Roach gives an account of the early mint’s operations: “…people could bring in silver items, pay a refining fee and receive coins in return…” In this way, underweight Spanish silver may have been melted and re-minted, though at significant cost to the consignor.
The simple NE design soon gave way to a more complicated design to deter counterfeiting and edge clipping. As to the longevity of the NE design, ask 3 experts and you’ll get 3 different answers. Some say the Act of Oct. 19, 1652 ended the design’s manufacture and heralded the beginning of production for what would become known as the “Willow Tree” design. Others believe the NE coinage was continued until 1654 when the mint evolved from hammer and punch technology to an actual coining press. 350 years separates us from the answer to that question. And isn’t that uncertainty, that need for speculation, a big part of the fun?
