Rare One Shilling Coin Made In 17th Century Could Fetch As Much As Rs 2.24 Crore At An Auction

A rare coin, which was minted in mid-17th century New England, could sell for the equivalent of about $300,000 (Rs 2.24 crore) when it's put up for auction in London next month.

The silver one shilling coin made in Boston in 1652, was recently found in the United Kingdom inside a candy tin containing hundreds of older coins, AP reported.

AP

James Morton, the auctioneer's coin specialist, called the New England coin the "star of the collection."

¡°I could hardly believe my eyes when I realised that it was an excellent example of a New England shilling, struck by John Hull in 1652 in Boston for use as currency by early settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony,¡± he said in a statement.

AP

The coin is thought to be one of the very first struck in North America and bears the initials NE for New England and the Roman numerals XII, indicating 12 pence which is equal to one shilling.

The coin was consigned to the auctioneer by Hon Wentworth Beaumont, whose father found it in a tin in his study at the family estate in northern England.

AP

Beaumont's ancestor, William Wentworth, was an early settler of New England who is thought to have arrived in the Colonies in 1636 and likely obtained the coin new. The Wentworths became a prominent family in New Hampshire.