"Primarily it is a catalogue of the pieces in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society...."--Pref.

The silver coins of Massachusetts hold a special place in early American numismatics. They were the first coins struck in British North America, a mere generation after the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Because of their historical importance and charming style, they have prompted rich inquiry among scholars and an intense interest and desire among collectors. The Silver Coins of Massachusetts is a splendidly illustrated review of these coins, employing the latest historical and numismatic evidence as well as novel scientific analysis. Minting technique is explored in detail. All varieties of the coinage are newly classified with a consistent yet flexible taxonomic system that lists the varieties in chronological order and can readily accommodate potential future discoveries. The system allows an appreciation for how varieties evolved and the relative degree of change that occurred at each step. It is designed to be as simple as possible without oversimplifying, with all varieties named according to their obverse and reverse dies. The book includes a fully illustrated atlas that details important characteristic features. The last part of the atlas displays each variety at actual size to aid in attribution.

Excerpt from Numismatics of Massachusetts It will be noted that I have made no attempt to subdivide the pieces into store cards, hard-times tokens, medals, etc., as do most numismatists, which only leads to endless confusion; but have grouped everything, except the personal medals, un der the respective towns or cities, in the first place alphabeti cally and then, in the case of the dated pieces, chronologically. This system seems to be more suitable to a catalogue not compiled primarily for experts. A full index will guide those who consult the list. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.