Pine Tree Significant to Massachusetts

• A pine tree appears on the early coins of Massachusetts and later on the New Hampshire coppers. Is there some special reason for this design subject?

The Massachusetts Bay Colony’s prime export was pine trees to be used as the mast on sailing ships. The white pine is a symbol of the Great Peace uniting the Iroquois. Evergreens symbolize immortality and eternal life. These are all good reasons for Massachusetts to have chosen the pine tree for its initial coinage. I am unaware of any explanation why the New Hampshire House of Representatives chose the same iconography. The Sons of Liberty flag also depicts a pine tree.

• Massachusetts later minted coins on which a Native American appears. What do we know about this coinage design?

We don’t know if either of the two engravers, Joseph Callender and later Jacob Perkins, used a model or designed the Native American depiction from the seal granted to the colony on a 1629 charter authorized by King Charles I and appears on the state seal first used in 1780. “An Act for establishing a mint for the coinage of gold, silver and copper” passed by the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1786 mandated that the Native American holding a bow and arrow accompanied by a star was to appear on the obverse but offered no further explanation.

• While I was searching through a bag of wheat cents, I found one that was somewhat damaged and appears to have the date of 1959. It doesn’t look like a homemade magicians coin. A wheat back die was used to strike the reverse. Is this possible?

Since you say the date “appears” to be 1959, I have to ask: could the date be altered? Check under magnification. Also check not only the edge for evidence of an unrelated obverse and reverse having been sandwiched together, but check the seam area of each side for the same reason. There was a 1959-D Wheat cent mule sold by auction in 2019; however, both Numismatic Guaranty Company and Professional Coin Grading Service gave it a “No Decision.” If you still believe yours to be genuine, I would ask the opinion of several dealers or these third-party services.

• In my accumulation of U.S. coins over 60 years I have found two pennies with a “D” over “S” mintmark. 1939 and 1956. I do not know if these are significant as they are not in the Whitman Blue Book. What guidance can you give?

There are a significant number of varieties of the 1939 mintmarked Lincoln cents, including 1939-D/D and 1939-S/S varieties. From the images I’ve viewed, it would be easy to mistake a D/D for a D/S. Likewise, there are 1956-D/D/S, 1956-D/D and 1956-D Over D Shadow varieties for that date. You need to have a Lincoln cent specialist or a coin dealer examine your coins to determine what varieties you may have.

• What should I consider if I want to take the chance and have a coin “restored?”

It depends on what problems need to be restored, retooled, cleaned or enhanced. Are you trying to improve the grade of the coin? None of these are a great idea, but if you want to have a coin restored you should first consider if the coin is likely to look original or not once it has been conserved.

• Who are the women who are featured on some of the Military Payment Certificates (MPCs)?

In general I would describe the vignettes featuring women on MPCs as being enigmatic. We know for certain Series 591 features Miss Ann Izzard. Series 641 features a female only known as Laura. Series 691 depicts the same allegorical female figure of Commerce as appears on the Series 1892 $2 Educational bank note.

• Are there replacement note MPCs, and if so, how can they be identified?

Our Federal Reserve replacement notes can be identified by a star at the end of the serial number. MPCs have a letter at both the front and back of the serial number. MPC replacement notes lack the letter at the end of that serial number.

• Could you explain the origin of “bo” or “beau” dollar?

The word “beau” is a slang expression in Louisiana Cajun French, meaning “real,” as opposed to the paper dollars that have been mistrusted throughout world history. In other words beau dollars are specie, paper money backed by something tangible. Our Federal Reserve Bank notes are fiat money, not backed by anything and only used as money as long as the public is willing to accept them.

• Coin Clinic questions from the March 14 issue of Numismatic News were about dipping coins. Reader Bob Bair shared research information by Susan Maltby presented at a conference in Scotland regarding this topic.

“Dips contain thiorea as a sequestering agent ... thiorea contains sulfur, there will be a chemical combination between that sulfur and silver which cannot be rinsed off by any means because the bond between the sulfur atom of the thiorea and the silver is so strong that it is impossible to break … Cleaning with a silver dip leaves behind sulfur, which, in turn, will cause the silver to tarnish or re-corrode. Researchers found that the acid in the coin dips leached copper out of the silver alloy, resulting in the surface of the metal being slightly etched. This makes it even more reactive to the sulfur, which causes it to re-corrode faster … Studies have shown that the acids in the dips can dissolve copper from a silver alloy and the silver as well.”

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