Undated (1850s) NE Shilling. Thomas Wyatt Copy. Noe-1, Kenney-1, W-14020. Silver. MS-64 (PCGS).
49.8 grains. Medallic alignment. Medium silver-gray in color with blushes of powder blue and pale champagne-gold evident as the surfaces dip into a light. On June 16, 1856, a Boston newspaper reported the wonderful discovery of some super high grade Massachusetts, NE, Oak and Pine Tree coins in Chelsea. The paper stated that the coins were bought by a man who said he was going to donate them to the British Museum. Two months later, another Boston newspaper wrote a follow up story. It stated that, no sooner had the wonderful coin discovery been published, than "...complete sets of this coinage poured into our city..." The paper investigated, and discovered that all these coins were copies made in New York City. Finally, about a week later, the famous Boston collector Jeremiah Colburn wrote to the paper saying that a New Yorker whose initials were T.W. had offered to sell him complete sets of the copies. T.W. was Thomas Wyatt, a New Yorker who liked to style himself "Professor" but who was actually a fairly learned, if eccentric, character of his time. Wyatt capitalized on the growing interest in coin collecting by making copies for sale of some of the most sought after of all numismatic coins, the Massachusetts silver series. Wyatt modelled his Oak Tree shilling after one he had seen in a friend's collection. For the NE shilling, Q. David Bowers (2020) reports a mintage of 12 as part of sets, plus additional singles by Wyatt, and yet others by Edwin Bishop of New York City. Examples are scarce in today's market, and with the quality offered here they are rare.
PCGS# 534617. NGC ID: E6CT.
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From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex F.C.C. Boyd; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XIV, May 2006, lot 530; Lawrence R. Stack Collection. The Noe plate coin. Lot tag, Sydney F. Martin envelope and Stack collector tag with attribution and provenance notes included.

Estimate: $4500