A pre-Revolutionary War American silver coin recovered from an old cabinet in Amsterdam has sold for $2.52 million at auction, breaking the previous record.
According to one source, the three pence coin was minted in Boston in 1652, just weeks after the first mint was established in the colonies. statement From Stack's Bowers Gallery, the auction house behind the sale.
New England. Stack's Bowers Gallery
The coin was originally discovered in the Netherlands in 2016, hidden in a box with a mount labeled “Silver Token Unknown/From the Quincy Family/B.” Ma-chan. December 1798. ”The owner had no idea he had accidentally recovered a piece of American history.
PCGS, an independent coin grading agency, has determined that the coin is authentic after thorough testing and analysis to confirm its authenticity.
The Boston Mint 3 pence coin is considered a prized possession as only one other has been recovered. Another extant coin is part of the Massachusetts Historical Society's collection. As such, this discovery shocked the coin collecting community, causing many to dig into their savings for the chance to own the coveted coin.
This coin features the inscription NE, representing New England, on one side and a Roman numeral marking the value on the other side. The threepence was given this name because it had three Roman numerals engraved on it.
According to the Massachusetts Historical Society, shortly after the Boston Mint was founded, workers revolted against British coinage authorities, responding to the colony's “growing sense of identity as separate from the mother country and the control of its own economy.” He expressed a “determination to put regulations in place.”
Coins at that time were worth a lot of money. Stack's Bowers Gallery
This rebellion also meant that coins with the Northeast stamp and Roman numerals were probably produced for only a few months, with very few remaining in existence today.
In 1781, British collector Thomas Brand Hollis wrote a letter to John Adams, then the American ambassador to the Netherlands, asking for his help in tracking down one of the Boston Mint's coins. Adams tagged his wife Abigail for help. Her great-grandfather was the brother-in-law of John Hull, the silversmith who minted the coins at the time.
The coin collecting community has been spoiled by expensive new products this year. In October, a rare, misprinted U.S. coin sold for $500,000.
In November, a family discovered their gold coin collection was worth a staggering $2 million. They initially thought they might not be able to sell it for more than $100,000.
