Join Alan Stahl, Curator of Numismatics at Princeton University, for this presentation about the silver sixpence bearing the date 1652, found at John and Priscilla Alden’s 17th century homesite in 1960, a rare archaeological find. Click here for a 57-minute YouTube video of the February 10, 2023 presentation about coinage of the time.

The sixpence was found in 1960 during an excavation of the first Alden House on the grounds of the Alden estate in Duxbury, MA. (Above, right) Coins of the time period are displayed for comparison.

Dr. Stahl (above) also discusses the context of coinage and other forms of money circulating in the Massachusetts colony at the time.

The coin that was found is displayed in the lower right of the upper left slide, along with there other sixpence pieces. Other coins from that period were also found throughout New England (click on map above). Later coinage was replaced by paper money.