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

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

. In 1652, the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

authorized

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

silversmiths John Hull and Robert Sanderson to mint coinage. 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 The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

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%. Later pieces, struck between 1652 and 1660 or 1662, bore the image of a willow tree, with an oak tree appearing on coins produced between 1660 or 1662 and 1667. However, the most famous design was the final one to be issued, the pine tree type, struck between ca. 1667 and 1682. 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.">NMAH , Legendary Coins & Currency: Massachusetts Pine Tree Shilling, "1652" (struck 1667–1674)
/ref> 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

https://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource/massachusetts-pine-tree-shilling-1652-struck-1667-1674 https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1082064 {{Portal bar, Numismatics Currencies of dependent territories of the United Kingdom Shillings