In the early decades of English settlement, Massachusetts faced a practical problem that every growing economy eventually confronts: a shortage of reliable small change. The Pilgrims arrived in 1620 with some English coinage, but over time those coins were lost, worn, hoarded, or exported through trade Everyday transactions still occurred. Barter and mediums such as wampum worked only locally, so expanding commerce required a familiar, standardized form of money. By the early 1650s, the Massachusetts Bay Colony moved to solve that shortage with an uncommon step for a distant colony: striking its own silver coins.
Why Massachusetts Needed Its Own Silver
New England’s Atlantic trade, particularly with the West Indies, brought foreign coin and silver into the region, adding to the specie typical of 17th-century commerce. With silver accessible and the need for circulating money growing, the Massachusetts General Court authorized a local coinage in 1652. A mint operated in Boston, and the colony’s mintmaster, John Hull, stood ready to produce coins denominated in the familiar English system of pounds, shillings, and pence.
The decision was significant. Coinage was not merely a convenience; it was a statement of economic self-sufficiency. Massachusetts needed coins that could circulate easily among merchants and households and be accepted in routine trade. Over the next three decades, the colony struck four major design types. Though different in appearance and complexity, all are commonly associated with the date 1652, a hallmark of this series and a reminder of the original authorization.
The Four Major Types and Their Designs
Pine Tree coinage (circa 1667 to 1682)
By 1667, Massachusetts adopted a final major redesign featuring a pine tree, a familiar symbol in the region and associated with Massachusetts at the time. The Pine Tree coins returned to the three original denominations: three pence, six pence, and shilling, again bearing the 1652 date. They were struck on both larger and smaller planchets. In circulation, some pieces show edge loss consistent with clipping (the removal of small amounts of silver from the rim) leaving certain survivors noticeably reduced in diameter or weight.
New England coinage (early 1652)
The first Massachusetts issues are often called the New England coinage, and they are the essence of simplicity. Undated pieces carried minimal devices: the obverse bore a small “NE”. The reverse displayed the denomination in Roman numerals: III for three pence, VI for six pence, and XII for a shilling. The punches were intentionally offset so that striking one side would not obliterate the other. The original authorizing language called for square pieces, but later legislation shifted the coinage to round planchets. The surviving “NE” issues are usually round or irregularly round, rather than consistently square. This coinage was struck only for a few months and survives today in very limited numbers, especially in the higher denominations.
Willow Tree coinage (circa late 1652 to 1662)
The extreme simplicity of the New England pieces made them easy targets for counterfeiters. To deter counterfeiters, the colony adopted the more recognizable Willow Tree design. On the obverse, a beaded inner circle framed a willow tree, with a legend typically recorded as “MASATHVSETS IN” (with spelling and punctuation variants) around the outer area, using the Roman-style V for U. The reverse also used a beaded inner circle, containing the date 1652 and the denomination (III, VI, or XII), with the outer legend “NEW ENGLAND AN DOM”, meaning “New England, in the year of our Lord”. Because dies were made individually, collectors can identify numerous die varieties.
Oak Tree coinage (circa 1660/2 to 1667)
The Oak Tree series kept the same general format as the Willow Tree type but replaced the tree with an oak, a natural emblem for New England. This series also expanded the denomination set, adding a two pence coin alongside the three pence, six pence, and shilling.
Collectability and Legacy
Across all four types, the Massachusetts silver series tells a clear story: a colony adapting its money to meet commercial realities. Today, the Pine Tree issues are often considered the most attainable because far more survive, and they circulated widely across North America and into the Caribbean. The earlier New England pieces, by contrast, are notable rarities, prized for their scarcity and their stark, almost experimental design. Together, these coins remain among the most important issues of early American numismatics, linking local necessity with the beginnings of a distinctly American monetary identity.
