One of the first coins minted in Colonial England, which was recently found among other coins in a candy tin, has sold at auction for more than $350,000, more than was expected to get.
According to AP news the auctioneer expected the coin to sell for about $300,000. The one shilling coin made in Boston in 1652, considered the finest example of just a few dozen such coins known to still exist.
"I am not surprised at the amount of interest this exceptional coin attracted. The price paid, which was above estimate, reflects its extraordinary historic significance and outstanding original state of preservation" said coin specialist James Morton
The coin was considered for auction by Wentworth "Wenty" Beaumont whose father found it recently in a candy tin containing hundreds of old coins in his study at his family's estate in England. Beaumont is a descendant of William Wentworth, an early settler of New England. The Wentworths became one of the most prominent families in New Hampshire.
Before 1652 coins from England, the Netherlands, the Spanish Empire and other nations were used as currency in New England. But a shortage of coinage prompted the Massachusetts General Court to appoint John Hull as Boston mintmaster, and he responsible for producing North America's first silver coin. The simple coin has the initials NE for New England on one side and the Roman numeral XII, representing the 12 pennies in a shilling on the other.
Several other rare American coins were also sold at the auction, including a pair of 1776 pewter dollars that fetched nearly $80,000 each, and Libertas Americana bronze medal that got more than $17,000.