[ti:Rare Piece of Money from 1600s Could Be Worth $300,000]
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[00:00.04]A rare piece of metal money made in the 1600s
[00:06.60]in the New England area of the U.S. could be sold for $300,000.
[00:15.32]The coin is to be sold at an auction sale in London next month.
[00:22.60]The silver coin was minted in 1652 in Boston, Massachusetts.
[00:30.84]"To mint" means to make, or strike, a coin out of metal.
[00:37.32]Coin experts consider it to be the best example
[00:41.48]of about 40 such coins known to still exist.
[00:47.00]The business holding the sale is Morton and Eden Limited.
[00:51.76]It issued a statement on Wednesday.
[00:55.12]It said the coin was recently found in Britain
[00:58.72]inside a candy container that held hundreds of old coins.
[01:05.04]James Morton is the coin specialist for the auctioneer
[01:09.48]-- the business holding the sale.
[01:12.12]He called the New England coin the "star of the collection."
[01:17.12]"I could hardly believe my eyes when I realized
[01:21.12]that it was an excellent example of a New England shilling,
[01:25.76]struck by John Hull in 1652 in Boston for use as money by early settlers
[01:33.92]in the Massachusetts Bay Colony," Morton said in a statement.
[01:39.16]John Hull was responsible
[01:41.96]for producing North America's first silver coins.
[01:45.92]The Massachusetts General Court appointed Hull
[01:49.96]as Boston mintmaster in 1652.
[01:54.80]The mint was considered treasonous by King Charles II.
[02:00.28]It stopped operating in 1682,
[02:04.56]the auctioneer's statement said.
[02:07.16]The recently discovered coin has a simple design.
[02:11.48]It has the letters NE, for New England, on one side.
[02:16.60]On the other side is the Roman number for 12.
[02:20.84]That was the number of pennies in a shilling.
[02:26.04]Jim Bailey is a coin expert in Rhode Island.
[02:30.48]He called the shilling "a phenomenal discovery."
[02:34.04]Bailey added that the coin has great "eye appeal."
[02:38.84]The coin belongs to Wentworth "Wenty" Beaumont.
[02:43.40]Beaumont's father found it in a container
[02:46.52]in his study at the family home in northern England.
[02:51.28]Beaumont's ancestor, William Wentworth,
[02:54.64]was an early settler of New England.
[02:57.68]He is thought to have arrived in the Colonies in 1636.
[03:03.72]He likely received the coin when it was new.
[03:07.80]The Wentworths became a well-known family in New Hampshire.
[03:13.12]The online sale includes several other early American coins.
[03:18.32]It is set to take place November 26.
[03:23.24]I'm Ashley Thompson.
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