1652 Massachusetts Oak Tree 6 Pence, 'IN' Obverse, 33.8gns NGC MS62

Struck over a 30-year period, from 1652 to 1682, the silver coins of the Massachusetts Bay Colony have long been considered the aristocrats of the American colonial series. Originally authorized by Acts of the General Court of Massachusetts dated May 26/27, 1652 and May 16, 1662, the silver coinage of Massachusetts is the earliest struck in the American colonies. With the exception of the 1662 Oak Tree two pence, all Massachusetts silver coins bear the frozen date 1652 (the date of the original enabling legislation); the Oak Tree two pence was authorized in 1662, so, logically, it bore that date. The legislation authorizing a silver coinage for "the colony established a shilling of .925 fineness (sterling standard), but a weight of 75% of the contemporary British equivalent. The reduction in weight was deliberate, as it was meant to restrict circulation of the coinage to the area of the Bay Colony, and to distinguish the issue from the British shilling, with which it might compete in the New World. The legislation, as well, lawfully limited the circulation of the coinage to within the jurisdiction of the General Court; this, however, did not prevent large quantities of shillings being  exported, a practice subsequently declared illegal by the Court.