I have taken a left turn from collecting early type coins and have decided to collect (for awhile at least) what are known as Conder tokens. These were made in the late 1700s in Britain since Elizabeth I "felt that only gold or silver matched the dignity of the throne" (D&H Intro 2004 update). This led to a lack of small change for daily transactions and so the Queen allowed merchants, towns, and others to mint usually copper tokens for this purpose (farthings, half pennies, and pennies). This was very important since Britain was fully embracing the Industrial Revolution. "People who had once spent most of their lives in one rural area moved to industrial areas to run the new factories." Bartering or making one's own goods wasn't effective anymore (D&H Intro 2004 update).
The token I have received for my birthday is what is known as a "mule". A mule is the name given to a coin that either on purpose or by mistake (deliberate with this token) ended up being struck with a pair of dies that were not intended to be used together. These token mules were usually produced for collectors.
My token was minted in the county of Norfolk and is a Blofield Calvary, D&H #11 (DH = Dalton & Hamer who catalogued these in their book of 1910-1918) and used as a half penny. It was minted circa 1794. Private militias were common then as a response to the fear and threat of Napoleon. The obverse displays musical instruments and weapons and various versions of this token have different reverse dies. The reverse of this token shows the mythical Sir Bevois who once slayed 30,000 men with his magical sword.
Obverse:
Reverse:
There were a tremendous variety of tokens made, but they were not minted in great numbers. This token, however, is considered rare and thus, by the token rarity scale, there were less than 75 made.
What I love about this token beyond the design is that it is in uncirculated condition (lots of luster that doesn't show in my pics) which to me is incredible given its age (even if it was made for collectors who maintained it wonderfully). There is a Norfolk #11 for sale at Coin Rarities Online that is, to me, ridiculously overpriced. That one is nicely toned and not dark like mine, but it cannot stack up to the condition of my version. I bring that up because I do believe that given what CRO is selling it for that I also possess a coin that will turn out to be a good investment if I ever decide to sell it long term (no plans!).
I hope you like my new piece and found the above moderately interesting!
Linear Mode
