Hawthorne's description of what is said to have taken place on that occasion is too vivid a picture to be overlooked. He relates that Captain John Hull was appointed to manufacture the pine tree money and had about one shilling out of every twenty to pay him for the trouble of making them. Hereupon all the old silver in the colony was handed over to Captain John Hull. The battered silver cans and tankards, I suppose, and silver buckles and broken spoons, and silver hilts of swords that figured at court--all such articles were doubtless thrown into the melting pot together.
The magistrates soon began to suspect that the mint-master would have the best of the bargain and they offered him a large sum of money if he would but give up that twentieth shilling which he was continually dropping into his own pocket. But Captain Hull declared himself perfectly satisfied with the shilling. And well he might be, for so diligently did he labor that in a few years, his pockets, his money bags, and his strong box were overflowing with pine tree shillings.
Then Samuel Sewall, afterwards the famous Judge Sewall of the days of witchcraft fame, came a courting to Hull's daughter. Betsy was a fine and hearty damsel and having always fed heartily on pumpkin pies, doughnuts, Indian puddings and other Puritan dainties, she was as round and plump as a pudding herself.
"Yes, you may take her," said Captain Hull, to her lover, young Sewall, "and you'll find her a heavy burden enough." Hawthorne describes the wedding and the costumes of the contracting parties and their friends, and Captain Hull he "supposes," rather improbably one would think, however, "dressed in a plum colored coat all the buttons of which were made of pine tree shillings. The buttons of his waistcoat were of sixpences and the knees of his small clothes were buttoned with silver three-pences ... and as to Betsy herself, she was blushing with all her might, and looked like a full-blown peony or a great red apple."
When the marriage ceremony was over, at a whispered word from Captain Hull, a large pair of scales was lugged into the room, such as wholesale merchants use for weighing bulky commodities, and quite a bulky commodity was now to be weighed in them. "Daughter Betsy," said the mint-master, "get into one side of these scales." Miss Betsy--or Mrs. Sewall as we must now call her--did as she was bid and again the servants tugged, this time bringing in a huge iron-bound oaken chest which being opened proved to be full to the brim with bright pine tree shillings fresh from the mint. At Captain Hull's command the servants heaped double handfuls of shillings into one side of the scales, while Betsy remained in the other. Jingle, jingle, went the shillings as handful after handful was thrown in, till, plump and ponderous as she was, they fairly weighed the young lady from the floor. "There, son Sewall," cried the honest mint-master, resuming his seat, "take these shillings for my daughter's portion. Use her kindly and thank Heaven for her. It's not every wife that's worth her weight in silver."