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Secondary sourceBook1899

The Coin Shilling of Massachusetts Bay

William Graham Sumner · 1899

An 1899 scholarly article on Massachusetts Bay coinage that quotes Hutchinson's own account of owning old silver shillings.

This later numismatic study quotes Hutchinson's own historical writing about Massachusetts currency, showing his work as a historian.

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The Coin Shilling of Massachusetts BayPDF · 42 pages
William Graham Sumner, The Coin Shilling of Massachusetts Bay, 1899.

About this source

What it is

This is a scholarly paper by William Graham Sumner, published in the Yale Review in November 1898 and reprinted in 1899, examining the history and value of the coin shilling used in Massachusetts Bay. It quotes a statement by Thomas Hutchinson, who mentioned owning several shillings from the reign of Charles I.

Why it matters

As a historian himself, Hutchinson wrote about the colony's monetary history, and his own observations became a source later scholars like Sumner relied on. This shows how Hutchinson's historical writing continued to shape understanding of Massachusetts long after his lifetime.

Look closer

  • Why would a later economic historian quote Hutchinson's own writings as evidence?
  • What does this tell you about Hutchinson's role as a historian as well as a governor?
  • What questions can't this kind of technical study answer about Hutchinson as a person?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Thomas Hutchinson on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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