(1659) Lord Baltimore Maryland Sixpence - MVLTILICAMINI

Strike Type

Coin Details

Year

1659

Denomination

Colonials

Strike Type

Regular Strike

Series

Pre-1776 States Coinage (1652-1774)

Designer

Unknown (commissioned by Cecil Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore; struck at the Royal Mint, England)

Composition

Silver (.925 Sterling)

Edge

Plain

Auction Record

Price realized: $50,432
Sold: November 2002
Grade: MS62
Auction house: Morton & Eden, Ltd.

Description

Bearing the misspelling "MVLTILICAMINI" instead of "MVLTIPLICAMINI" (multiply ye), this Lord Baltimore Maryland sixpence comes from a die with a cutting error. Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, had shillings, sixpences and fourpences (groats) made in England for Maryland some time before October 1659, with his bust on the obverse and his crowned arms on the reverse. The silver was of sterling fineness, but each coin weighed about three quarters of its English counterpart. A Maryland law of April 12, 1662 required householders to exchange tobacco for the new money, and the few copper pennies are thought to be patterns. The reverse motto, translated by Mossman as "Increase and be Multiplied", lacks the P of MVLTIPLICAMINI on this die. Cataloged as PCGS #931472.