Pine tree shilling

The pine tree shilling was a type of coin minted and circulated throughout the Thirteen Colonies.

In 1652, the Massachusetts Bay Colony authorized Boston silversmiths John Hull and Robert Sanderson to mint coinage.^[1] Prior to 1652, the Massachusetts financial system was based on bartering and foreign coinage. The scarcity of coin currency was a problem for the growth of the New England economy. On May 27, 1652, the Massachusetts General Court appointed John Hull, a local silversmith, to be Boston's mint master without notifying or seeking permission from the British government.

Coins were issued in denominations of 3 and 6 pence and 1 shilling. The first pieces bore the letters "NE" and the denomination "III", "VI" or "XII". The coins were smaller than the equivalent sterling coins by 22.5%.^[2] Later pieces, struck between 1652 and 1660 or 1662, bore the image of a willow tree,^[3] with an oak tree^[4] appearing on coins produced between 1660 or 1662 and c. 1667. However, the most famous design was the final one to be issued, the pine tree type, struck between ca. 1667 and 1682.^[5] The coins circulated widely inside North America and the Caribbean.

The pine tree shillings nearly all bore the date "1652". This was the date of the Massachusetts Bay Colony legislation sanctioning the production of shillings by the "Hull Mint" operated by John Hull and Robert Sanderson (two Massachusetts settlers and business partners). The image of the pine tree on the later coins is thought to represent the export of tall timber, used for the mainmasts of British ships of war (among other things they were used for). The implication of respect owed to the colonies as the source of this vital war material would become sharper with the Pine Tree Flag flown during the American Revolution.^[6] The mint was shut down by the English government in 1682 and the Colony's charter was revoked two years later by Charles II on the advice of his colonial administrator Edward Randolph.

References

^ "The Hull Mint - Boston, MA - Massachusetts Historical Markers". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
^ N E Coinage Introduction
^ Willow Tree Introduction
^ Oak Tree Introduction
^ Pine Tree Coinage Introduction
^ NMAH | Legendary Coins & Currency: Massachusetts Pine Tree Shilling, "1652" (struck 1667–1674)

https://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource/massachusetts-pine-tree-shilling-1652-struck-1667-1674 https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1082064

[:0-1] "The Hull Mint - Boston, MA - Massachusetts Historical Markers". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 2022-05-04.

[2] N E Coinage Introduction

[3] Willow Tree Introduction

[4] Oak Tree Introduction

[5] Pine Tree Coinage Introduction

[6] NMAH | Legendary Coins & Currency: Massachusetts Pine Tree Shilling, "1652" (struck 1667–1674)

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v t e Currency units named shilling or similar
Circulating	Israeli shekel Kenyan shilling Peruvian sol Somali shilling Somaliland shilling Tanzanian shilling Ugandan shilling
Defunct	Argentine sol Australian shilling Austrian schilling Bavarian schilling Biafran shilling Bolivian sol British shilling Cypriot shilling East African shilling English shilling Fijian shilling Flemish schelling French sou French colonial sou Guadeloupe sou Haitian sou New France sou Saint Lucia sou Gambian shilling Ghanaian shilling Hamburg and Lübeck schilling Irish scilling Israeli old shekel Italian soldo Japanese government-issued Oceanian shilling Jersey sou Lombardo-Venetian soldo Luccan soldo Luxembourg sou Malawian shilling Massachusetts pine tree shilling Mecklenburg schilling New Zealand shilling Nigerian shilling Papal soldo Parman soldo Peruvian sol de oro Polish szeląg Portuguese soldo Rhodesian shilling Rhodesia and Nyasaland shilling Roman solidus Sardinian soldo Scandinavian skilling Schleswig-Holstein schilling courant Scots shilling Shekel Southern Rhodesian shilling South African sjieling Spanish sueldo Ticinese soldo Tuscan soldo Ukrainian shah Venetian soldo Wörgl schilling Württemberg schilling Zambian shilling
As a denomination	Canadian sou Egyptian shelen Vietnamese xu
Proposed	East African shilling
See also	Shilling mark (/–) Roman currency Carolingian monetary system £sd