The recent celebrations for Eric Newman have reminded me of an old episode from the late 1970s. I met a New Jersey vest pocket dealer named Dave Dokus, who owned the "New England Stiver". I saw the "Stiver" first hand.

The story was that Eric Newman had asked to see the coin, and had judged it to be a fantasy piece - evidently something having to do with the fabric of the flan. Yeoman was contacted, and the piece was eventually deleted from the Red Book.

The coin was from the Parmalee collection, was published by Crosby, and appeared in the first edition of the Red Book. A note "It is possible that this is a fantasy coin." was added to the listing in 1967 and in 1972, the listing was dropped entirely without further comment.

Although I'm not knowledgeable about the series, I don't recall ever seeing a formal condemnation of the piece. It seems a pity that such a potentially important object should simply disappear from the numismatic record without a publication recording the details.

The New England stiver is supposed to have originated in Holland to supply small change to Dutch merchants in New Amsterdam during the period of Dutch control 1623 64 and as in the case of the New Yorke token its circulation was probably very limited 2 A law supposedly directed in part against this token was passed by the Council and House of Representatives of Massachusetts March 21 1700 providing that in three months all tokens were to be redeemed at the highest rate for which they had passed and persons continuing to put out tokens were to be fined not exceeding 50 or be imprisoned not exceeding six months

The unique NEW ENGLAND STIVER, the following description of which, from Mr. Mickley's Catalogue, embraces all that is has been conjectured concerning it:

"Obverse NEW ENGLAND. M. Reverse 1 S.V.C. Two lions, rudely executed, to Right and Left, in field of the coin. See Dickeson Plate XX No 14.

No one acquainted with the coins of Holland can hesitate for a moment as to the origin this: it differs in no respect in its general, in its general appearance and particular style of workmanship from the Dutch Stiver of Two hundred ago."

Lot 349: New England; Stiver; two lions or skins...believed to be unique; copper; very good (Crosby, p. 347, pl. VIII, No. 13); We think this token is of native manufacture and not Dutch, as Mr. Crosby suggests; as the workmanship, letters, &c. are in no way like the Dutch work, but strongly resemble the crude engraving of the Pine-tree money makers.