1652 New England 3 Pence?

I have not yet sent the photo of the coin holder to Heritage, but I did send it to an expert.
For the further story, everything now depends on the XRF results.
If it turns out to be modern silver, then the story ends.
If it turns out to be American Colonial silver then I am one step further and the search continues.
Nerve racking!

The bottom of the holder appears to have "B. Ma." There are some prominent people with the last name of Quincy living in the B.oston Ma.ssachusetts area around or rather New England at that time.....even a soon to be President.

The "old forgery" idea floated by Heritage raises questions for me. Was there collector value prior to 1798? Of course, HA was unaware of the holder when expressing that opinion, but how far back do we go to the point where faking one of these was worth it? If it's fake but not prior to 1798, is the holder then also fake? Are these types of coin holders known from pre-1800? Or was the provenance known but added to a holder later? If someone went to all that trouble, why is it anonymously sitting in a "batch of old coins"? Granted, forgers of Dead Sea scrolls went to great lengths to obtain contemporary blank paper, etc, but for it to then appear in someone's old collection with just an unknown token attribution seems implausible. If it's fake, it must be the best I've ever seen on the internet. The cracks around the rim, the subtle corrosion around the E, the patina, and that subtle lamination under NE... who could fake such details? All the trade with "New Amsterdam" during the era when it was made seems to support such a piece ending up in the Netherlands, but then why is it attributed to the Quincy family in Boston? John Quincy Adams was appointed ambassador to the Netherlands in 1794. Authentic or elaborate subterfuge? So many questions. Fascinating.

@larsjan, every few days we will see someone post in this subforum a fake with a convincing story. Yours appears, so far, to be headed along a different pathway. Thank you for continuing to update this thread. How cool would it be for you to have actually found the real deal?

@kbbpll wow John Quincy Adams has a Netherland connection around the time frame of this holder. It's time to get perhaps some of the ink tested on the holder. The script could've been written years later, but if it were written 30 years after the fact...who was faking these in the 1820s? How many collectors were out there to make fakes to sell to at that time? This is getting more and more interesting. Good Luck!

Well done, Condor. I'd say inquire with the Massachusetts Historical Society if any of these coin holders were passed onto them for the coins when they received parts of the collection; however, it is also feasible to believe that the coin holders weren't there when they acquired these coins from his descendants...but if they have at least one maybe the handwriting is identical; testing the ink I believe for known properties of ink at the time is the next step.... B. Ma. = Boston Massachusetts perhaps....with the famous Quincy family from the area....with the Netherlands connection 1794 to John Quincy Adams.....and the fact that he had a coin collection...it's very intriguing now. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/c...sp?vpar=1847 and https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n21a24.html

John Quincy Adams was a member of the same Quincy family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinc...tical_family . In 1796 he was appointed ambassador to Portugal and a year later appointed ambassador by his father, the President John Adams, to ambassador of Prussia and moved to Berlin. He and his family were on the move in Europe. Maybe, he had to move quick and things were left behind and forgotten....just a theory..In 1797 the Netherlands were attacked by France....When people attack that's when things go missing...But, who knows for certain? All guesses. I would definitely test the ink if affordable. Good Luck! I can easily see this just passing down as an heirloom within the family and becoming lost to time. There weren't really many coin collectors then to take note of it and I can't believe the history books at the time were really complete and easy to come by. If I ask anyone today...What did your great grandfather or great-great grandfather do? I probably would not get a quick answer.

I wouldnt rely on the xrf too much. Common practice of making copy coins and counterfeit coins is starting with a genuine coin base . Massachusetts silver was often made from the melting of spanish coins of the time. Thats probably the easiest test for a counterfeiter to pass as these coins can be purchased for a few dollars. You need a group of experts to study the lines of the die stamp. And maybe someone who can analyze age of patina or any dirt in the crevices if possible