1652 年美国银币在拍卖会上以创纪录的 252 万美元成交

这枚三便士硬币是在当时的英国殖民地第一家铸币厂开业几周后在波士顿铸造的。

A rare American silver coin dating back to the 17th century, before the United States was even founded, has sold for a record-breaking $2.52 million at auction.

一枚稀有的美国银币，其历史可以追溯到 17 世纪，甚至在美国建国之前，在拍卖会上以 252 万美元的破纪录价格售出。

The coin was discovered in an old cabinet in Amsterdam in 2016, and its owner was initially unaware of its historical significance.

这枚硬币于 2016 年在阿姆斯特丹的一个旧柜子中被发现，其主人最初并不知道它的历史意义。

The pasteboard box containing the coin was labeled “Silver token unknown / From Quincy Family / B. Ma. Dec, 1798.”

装有硬币的纸板箱上贴着“银币未知/来自昆西家族/B. Ma”的标签。 1798 年 12 月。”

However, after extensive research, testing, analysis, and comparison with another surviving specimen, the coin’s true value was finally identified and verified by the PCGS, an independent body that grades rare coins.

然而，经过广泛的研究、测试、分析以及与另一个幸存样本的比较，这枚硬币的真实价值最终得到了 PCGS（一家对稀有硬币进行评级的独立机构）的鉴定和验证。

The threepence coin was struck in 1652 in Boston, just weeks after the first mint in the then-British colony had opened, according to a statement released Monday by Stack’s Bowers Galleries, which handled the sale.

根据负责此次拍卖的 Stack's Bowers Galleries 周一发布的一份声明，这枚三便士硬币于 1652 年在波士顿铸造，当时的英国殖民地第一座铸币厂刚刚开业几周后。

Although the coin is only about the size of a nickel and has a silver value of just $1.03 on today’s market, its age and ties to American history have made it the most expensive non-gold US coin struck before the founding of the United States Mint, the auction house added.

尽管这枚硬币只有镍币大小，在当今市场上的银价仅为 1.03 美元，但它的年代和与美国历史的联系使其成为美国造币厂成立之前铸造的最昂贵的非金币，拍卖行补充道。

When the note attached to the coin was written in 1798, coins made at the Boston Mint in 1652 had already become a prized possession for collectors.

当 1798 年在硬币上书写纸币时，1652 年波士顿造币厂铸造的硬币已经成为收藏家的珍贵藏品。

Distinguishable by their simple NE stamp representing New England on one side and their value in pence in Roman numerals on the other, these coins were already extremely rare since they were likely only made in this style for a few months that year.

这些硬币的一侧是代表新英格兰的简单 NE 印记，另一侧是罗马数字的便士价值，这些硬币已经非常罕见，因为它们可能只在当年的几个月中以这种风格制造。

The Boston Mint had defied the British crown’s authority to produce coins, representing New England’s “growing sense of identity as separate from the mother country and its determination to regulate its own economy,” according to the Massachusetts Historical Society.

马萨诸塞州历史学会表示，波士顿造币厂藐视英国王室铸造硬币的权威，代表新英格兰“日益增强的独立于母国的认同感及其规范自身经济的决心”。

After the American Revolution, the coins it had produced became vogue even in England.

美国革命后，它生产的硬币甚至在英国也变得流行。

English collector Thomas Brand Hollis wrote to then-American ambassador to the Netherlands John Adams in 1781, asking for help in sourcing one of these coins.

1781 年，英国收藏家托马斯·布兰德·霍利斯 (Thomas Brand Hollis) 写信给当时的美国驻荷兰大使约翰·亚当斯 (John Adams)，请求帮助采购其中一枚硬币。

In turn, Adams wrote to ask his wife, Abigail, for help since her great-grandfather had been the stepbrother of John Hull, the silversmith who minted these coins.

反过来，亚当斯写信向他的妻子阿比盖尔寻求帮助，因为她的曾祖父是铸造这些硬币的银匠约翰·赫尔的继兄弟。

Just one other threepence coin of this type is known to have survived to the present day and is in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society, making this specimen the only one available to private collectors.

据了解，目前只有一枚这种类型的三便士硬币幸存下来，并由马萨诸塞州历史学会收藏，这使得该样本成为唯一可供私人收藏家使用的样本。

Another coin is perhaps still in existence after it was stolen from Yale College sometime before the 1960s, although its whereabouts are unknown.

另一枚硬币可能仍然存在，它在 20 世纪 60 年代之前的某个时候从耶鲁大学被盗，但下落不明。

This coin was subject to an intense, 12-minute bidding battle that auctioneer Ben Orooji called “an exhilarating ride and a career highlight,” as it fetched more than three times its presale estimates.

这枚硬币经历了一场长达 12 分钟的激烈竞拍，拍卖师本·奥鲁吉 (Ben Orooji) 称其为“一次令人兴奋的旅程和职业生涯的亮点”，因为它的成交价是预售估价的三倍多。

Other historic US coins have fetched vast sums at auction too. A rare 1794 silver dollar, believed to be one of the first – if not the first – made by the US mint, sold for $10 million in 2013.

其他具有历史意义的美国硬币也在拍卖会上拍出了巨款。一枚罕见的 1794 年银元于 2013 年以 1,000 万美元的价格售出，被认为是美国造币厂铸造的第一枚（如果不是第一枚）银元之一。

Meanwhile, a rare 1933 “Double Eagle” coin, one of the last gold coins ever struck for circulation in the US, sold for $18.9 million in 2021.

与此同时，一枚罕见的 1933 年“双鹰”硬币在 2021 年以 1,890 万美元的价格售出，这是美国最后铸造流通的金币之一。