PCGS Grades Newly Discovered 1652 Threepence
Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) recently graded the only privately held 1652 New England threepence, the rarest American colonial coin known. PCGS graded the specimen XF-45 after its recent discovery, making it only the second extant example. The other example is in the custody of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Another specimen was discovered missing from Yale University’s Collection close to a century ago and has not been accounted for since.
Stack's Bowers Galleries will soon offer a recently discovered 1652 New England threepence graded XF-45 by PCGS as the only specimen obtainable by private collectors.
PCGS
“This is one of the most important coins in all of American numismatics,” said Stephanie Sabin, PCGS president. “Since before the Civil War, collectors have regarded the 1652 New England threepence as the single-rarest American colonial coin. And for more than a century it’s been known as entirely unobtainable for private collectors. The discovery of this outstanding specimen, tracing back to Boston’s historic Quincy family, means this national treasure is available for ownership by private numismatists for the first time in generations. It was an honor to grade this coin, protecting it for future generations before it heads to auction this autumn.”
Stack’s Bowers Galleries will offer the piece in November 2024. The sale of this rarity is expected to generate incredible interest in the numismatic community and beyond.
John Kraljevich, Stack’s Bowers Galleries director of numismatic Americana, remarks, “For the entire lifetime of every collector alive today, the New England threepence has been entirely non-collectible, with not a single specimen in private hands anywhere in the world.” He goes on to say, “This specimen, now the finer of two extant, is the most important colonial numismatic treasure to be discovered in a century or more. What could possibly be more desirable than a one-of-a-kind rarity from the very first issue to be struck in North America?”
1652 Threepence obverse and reverse.
Stack's Bowers Galleries
The last time a 1652 New England threepence resided in private numismatic hands was in the early 1900s. That’s when Boston scholar William Sumner Appleton owned the specimen that went to the Massachusetts Historical Society after his passing in 1903. No collector alive today has had the opportunity to purchase a 1652 New England threepence, making the encapsulation and sale of this recently discovered specimen all the more remarkable.
For more information about the upcoming sale, visit the Stack's Bowers Galleries website.
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