1850s Sixpence Oak Tree Wyatt Copy

Coin Details

Auction Record

$2,880 MS63 09-17-2023 Heritage Auctions

Description

A copy of the Massachusetts Oak Tree Sixpence produced by James W. Wyatt of London during the 1850s. This is one of the more precisely dated items in Wyatt's colonial copy series, with the 1850s attribution based on stylistic analysis and the known period of Wyatt's numismatic activities. The original Oak Tree Sixpence was struck at the Hull Mint in Boston as part of the oak tree design series (circa 1660-1667), with the conventional date 1652. The sixpence denomination featured the oak tree obverse with MASATHVSETS IN legend and "VI" on the reverse within a double-ring border. It was the middle denomination of the three standard silver values (twopence, sixpence, shilling) plus the special-issue threepence. Wyatt's 1850s copy of the Oak Tree Sixpence reflects the growing international collector interest in early American coinage during the mid-19th century. British collectors were particularly drawn to Massachusetts colonial silver because of its connection to English colonial history, and London dealers like Wyatt served this market by providing copies when genuine specimens were unavailable. The attribution to the 1850s helps establish this copy within the broader timeline of Wyatt's activities and the development of colonial American numismatics as a collecting specialty. These copies are valued as artifacts of 19th-century numismatic commerce between Britain and America.

Rarity Notes

Scarce. Dateable Wyatt copies from the 1850s provide useful information about the chronology of colonial reproduction coinage.

Cross References

Wyatt Copy series (1850s); Noe reference: Massachusetts Silver Coinage; Original: Oak Tree Sixpence 1652 (circa 1660-1667)