Illustrated history of the United States mint / with a complete description of American coinage, from the earliest period to the present time

by Unknown

Massachusetts Pine Tree Shilling.

“John Hull and Robert Saunderson were equal officers in the ‘gainful business’ of the Mint. How much they coined in all for the colony, or the exact amount of their profits under the contract they carried out, cannot be determined.” The coinage was certainly large in amount, and they, as was well understood, became men of wealth and substance. When the daughter of John Hull was married to Judge Samuel Sewall, the founder of the town of Newbury, Mass., the prosperous mint-master gave the bride a dowery of her weight in silver. At the conclusion of the wedding ceremony, a large steel-yard was brought into the room, and the blushing bride placed upon one of the platforms of the same, while into a tub upon the other side were poured the Pine Tree Shillings, until the steel-yard balanced.