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An unusual discovery in a candy tin was sweeter than anyone expected. I’m Brian Banmiller on Business.

Recently a handful of random coins was found inside a candy tin. And one just sold at auction for more than $350,000. Why so much? Turns out the coin was one of the first ever minted in colonial New England. And the one shilling coin made in Boston in 1652 was one of just a few dozen believed to still exist. Before then coins from England, the Netherlands and the Spanish empire were used as currency in the colonies. But a shortage of those coins led to the Massachusetts general court appointing a Mint Master. However, the mint was considered treasonous, and shut down in 1682 by King Charles II. But during that time a number of coins were printed. On one side were the initials N.E. for New England and on the other the Roman numeral XII, representing the 12 pennies in a shilling. The candy tin belonged to descendants of a family among early settlers of New England. Talk about a treat. Brian Banmiller, CBS News.

About Brian

CBS News Radio national business journalist Brian Banmiller has spent more than 40 years in the news industry, covering business, politics and the economy on television, radio and in print. Currently, his “Banmiller on Business” reports are delivered to an audience of millions nationwide.