Newly Discovered Massachusetts Silver Threepence From 1652 Brings $2.52 Million

A small silver coin about the size of a nickel, struck in Boston in 1652, set a world record in an auction conducted by Stack’s Bowers Galleries, the world leader in auctions of rare early American coins and currency. Selling for $2,520,000 (with all included fees), the piece surpassed the previous world record price of $646,250 for an American coin struck before the American Revolution by nearly $2 million. The 1652 Massachusetts threepence also set a record for any non-gold U.S. coin struck before the founding of the United States Mint. Weighing just 1.1 grams, its silver value is $1.03 based on today’s market.

Struck within weeks of the establishment of the first mint to be opened in the future United States, the New England threepence is the only example known outside of a museum. A holed specimen has been in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society for 120 years. Since that time, no individual collector has had the opportunity to own an example. Today, several collectors pursued this once-in-several-lifetimes opportunity.

Stack’s Bowers Galleries Director of Numismatic Americana John Kraljevich, cataloger of the piece, noted after the sale that he was “very pleasantly shocked” at the price, which was more than three times in-house presale estimates. Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ auctioneer Ben Orooji called the 12-minute bidding battle “an exhilarating ride and a career highlight.”

All coinage from the Boston Mint is scarce. Silver threepences, sixpences, and shillings were struck in four different designs between 1652 and 1682, with the most famous and numerous of these being the Pine Tree shillings, struck over the last decade of the mint’s operation. The simple coins struck in 1652 are all extremely rare and feature just a tiny NE for New England and the denomination in pence (rendered as III, VI, or XII). Of the NE coins of 1652, the threepence is by far the rarest.

This piece was discovered in an old cabinet in Amsterdam around 2016 and belied identification for several years before the owner decided to thoroughly research his find. The coin is thought to have come from the Quincy Family of Boston, a political dynasty that included Abigail Adams, whose husband John was ambassador to the Netherlands in the 1770s and 1780s.

Two examples of the (1652) New England shilling were also sold in today’s auction, bringing $60,000 and $192,000. Among other highlights, a silver Libertas Americana medal, struck in Paris in 1783 at Benjamin Franklin’s order as a commemorative of American independence, brought $144,000.

The sale of this New England threepence marks the 58th time Stack’s Bowers Galleries has sold a coin at auction for $1 million or more. Additional $1+ million collectibles sold by the firm include the 1936 Nobel Peace Prize medal and several rare pieces of paper money.