Colonial era silver coin breaks auction record, sold for $2.5 million

An American silver coin from before the American Revolution, discovered in an old cabinet in Amsterdam, sold for $2.52 million at an auction, shattering the previous record.

The threepence coin was minted in Boston in 1652, just a few weeks after the first mint was established in the colony, according to a statement From the auction house behind the sale, Stack Bowers Galleries.

The coin was originally found in the Netherlands in 2016, hidden in a pasteboard box inscribed “Silver Token Unknown/Quincy Family/From B. Ma. Dec., 1798.” The owner had no idea that he had accidentally recovered a piece of American history.

After extensive testing and analysis to confirm its authenticity, the PCGS, an independent organization that grades coins, determined that the coin was genuine.

The Boston Mint’s threepence coins are considered a prized possession, as only one other has ever been recovered. The second surviving coin is part of the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Therefore, this discovery took the coin collecting community by surprise and many people invested deep into their savings for the chance to get hold of this coveted coin.

The coin is identified by its NE marking, representing New England on one side, and Roman numerals denoting its value on the other. Threepence had three Roman numerals inscribed on it, hence its name.

According to the Massachusetts Historical Society, soon after the Boston Mint was established, workers rebelled against the British authority to mint coins, reflecting the colony’s “growing sense of separate identity from the mother country and its determination to regulate its own economy.” Marks.

The rebellion also meant that coins with NE markings and Roman numerals were only produced for a few months, with very few in existence today.

In 1781, the English collector Thomas Brand Hollis wrote to the then American Ambassador to the Netherlands, John Adams, requesting help tracking down one of the Boston Mint’s coins. Adams then tagged his wife Abigail for help as her great-grandfather was the half-brother of John Hull, a silversmith at the time.

The coin collecting community has been spoiled for choice with expensive new items this year. In October, a rare misprinted us coin Was sold for $500,000.

In November, a family It was discovered that his gold coin collection It cost a staggering $2 million. He originally suspected that it could not be sold for more than $100,000.