Shilling

John Hull

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1652 John Hull and Robert Sanderson were appointed mint masters for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Established in response to a chronic shortage of hard currency and the need for a reliable and efficient medium of exchange, the mint was operated by Hull and Sanderson for thirty years. During that period, it produced coins of various denominations and designs, ranging from a simple NE (for "New England") to a willow, oak, or pine tree encircled by beading; virtually all examples, however, were dated 1652.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art