Good Samaritan Shilling Público Deposited
A silver piece dated 1652, which was never intended for a coin although it is an imitation of the New England and Pine Tree issues. In the American Journal of Numismatics (vii. 40) Dr. Green states that the original was "undoubtedly the work of some English apothecary, who, without any special object in view, stamped the piece with his trade-mark. It is figured in Felt's Account of 'Massachusetts Currency' (plate, p. 38)." The Good Samaritan Shilling attracted attention as early as 1767, when Thomas Hollis wrote about it to the Rev. Andrew Eliot, D.D., of Boston, and in his letter said: "Shilling, No. 10, MASATHVSETS in Pourtraiture of the good Samaritan. Over it FAC SIMILE No Reverse....If the shilling, No. 10...can be procured for T.H. in fair, unrubbed, uncleaned condition, he will be glad of them at any price." To this Dr. Eliot replied: "The portraiture of the good Samaritan no one among us ever heard of. I am persuaded that it was not a current coin; but a medal struck on some particular occasion." It will be noted that the piece Hollis asked for, nearly a century before Wyatt, had "no reverse," and was a fac simile copy of an earlier issue.
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)