In response to the dearth of hard currency, Massachusetts established a mint in June 1652. The following year, it issued a crude silver coin about the size of a modern half-dollar but weighing only one-third as much. On the obverse, between two beaded circles, was MASATHVSETS IN.; within the inner circle was a pine tree, from which the coin got its name. On the reverse was NEWENGLAND. AN. DOM. between two beaded circles and 1652, XII, within the inner one. The Roman numerals indicated the number of pence in a shilling. The mint closed in 1684.
Bibliography
McCusker, John J. Money and Exchange in Europe and America, 1600–1775: A Handbook. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1978.
Newman, Eric P., and Richard G. Doty, eds. Studies on Money in Early America. New York: American Numismatic Society, 1976.
