 | It was made by placing a blank silver disc on an engraved die, sandwiching it with another die for the reverse side, then hitting it with a hammer. The III in Roman numerals shows its denomination to differentiate it from tuppence, sixpence and shilling coins. Although it bears the date 1652, the oak tree on one side shows could have been minted in any year between 1653, when the original simpler design was changed to beat counterfeiters, and 1682, when a new series of coins was introduced.
Coin expert Peter Spencer confirmed it was a genuine threepenny piece from the first authorized colonial coinage, commissioned and struck in Boston, Massachusetts.
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