1652 Oak Tree Shilling. Noe-10, Salmon 8-F, W-510. Rarity-6. IN at Bottom, Ghost Tree. VF-35 (PCGS).

71.0 grains. A beautiful specimen of a well known but highly elusive variety. Delightful glossy deep pewter-olive with gold and powder blue highlights evident as the coin rotates under a light. Exceptional eye appeal and surface quality, smooth and pleasing; Ford's highly granular duplicate was less attractive but still brought $17,250 in our (Stack's) Ford XII sale of October 2005. Fairly round, legends complete on both sides, no significant clips. The tree, as expected, is visible as an outline on the swollen central obverse. Two tiny dents under the letter E in MASATHVSETS, another right of the digit 2 in the date, both inconsequential to the excellent eye appeal. As we noted in the Ford XII sale, "There was no N.10 in Picker, MHS (1970), or NN's 59th or 60th sales." This one is better than Hain's, Norweb's (tooled to strengthen the tree), and others seen, including the aforementioned Ford duplicate. The primary Ford piece, the nice example from Parsons, sold for $40,250 in 2005. While this example will not bring as much, its provenance is enviable and its condition places it among the better examples known for this challenging Noe number. Few rare varieties in the Massachusetts silver series are as well known, and few famous varieties are as rare. This example offers an enthusiast of the series much to enjoy.

PCGS# 915137. NGC ID: 2ARL.

From our (Stack's) sale of the John L. Roper, 2nd Collection, December 1983, lot 15; our (Stack's) Americana Sale of January 2007, lot 6345; our sale of the Sydney F. Martin Collection, August 2023 Global Showcase Auction, lot 8150.

Estimate: $4000