1656 Edward Camfield Farthing (error?)

17th Century English Trade Tokens

Howdy peeps,

I have a Edward Camfield farthing (Boyne's Volume 1, page 324, #172) that appears to either be double struck, over struck, or recut from something else on the reverse (2nd pic below). Does anyone have one to post so I can compare it to another one to figure out what's going on? :goofer:






Ribbit

 

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It is hard to say, that has sat in some mineralised soil for awhile, so that it is corroded enough that anything is possible.

Some tokens are found in sand, or in loamy soil and come out looking pretty much like they did when they were dropped.

One of my 17th century tokens was found last year and is the best known examples, it would not be memorable but it is the only one issued by a ratkiller - yes that was a 17th century profession equivalent to an exterminator today.

Often times these tokens were made by people travelling town to town with the equipment to manufacture them quickly and move on. They often times made them in a hurry with not much of a design etc. And they were careless or unknowing with spelling etc.

 

It being in the ground didn't do what is clearly visible. Under the BON of ALBONS (ALBANS) is OBO and there's more than that but that's the clearest visible under letters.

Your Rat Killer farthing, is it a George Godfery? And is it the one with RAT KILR on it (#189 vs #184)? I ran across that one while researching and always thought it would be a kewl one to have in my collection. :thumb:

Ribbit

Ps: I have a farthing sized unifaced token with STROOD*IN*KENT on the outside ring with 1666 in the center and a 8 point star above and below the date. I cannot locate it in Boyne's and was wondering if you have anything on it? :hail:

 

It is very very possible that it was overstruck over another token too. Who knows... maybe someone didn't pay their bill and their tokens were overstruck for someone else's order.

Yes it is George Godfrey of Sarum, Wilts:



This piece was found last year in Wilts by a detectorist there, the other examples known are not quite as legible as this one. I liked this piece because of the rat, usually I collected tokens by female issuers, or with interesting designs.

 

That's #184 and the one I'm looking for is #189 that has RAT KILR on it. I've got a nice little collection going, with farthings & half-penys. I love all the misspellings on them. :thumb:

I also love the ones with lots of writing, like the Blandford Farthing (Volume 1, page 171, #9):






Ribbit

 

Do you have any with female issuers?



Alice Cobham from Rochester, Kent.


Marie Cressener was an apothecary in Bury St. Edmunds, and incredibly a Catholic - in a decidedly non-Catholic by then England.



While it is surmised that Mary Knot may have been a seamstress, but it is not known for certain. This piece is from Rederiff, Surrey - now a part of London.

 

Here's one more of my favorites:





It's a Richard Ballard half-peny from Monmouth (Volume 2, pag 836, #15). It's loaded with writing and has misspellings, so that's what makes it one of my favs.

Ribbit

Ps: It looks like you and I are the only ones that collect these on CT? :bigeyes: I've had UK peeps ask me why would I even be interested in these, since I'm not from there but I don't understand why anyone wouldn't love collecting these? :goof: There are an estimated 20K different issuers with only 14K confirmed so far, so there's no chance of ever getting bored with them and I am constantly looking for an unknown/unlisted variety, which I've found a few but they always go for tons of money so I never end up with one. But one of these days, I'm gonna get a one-of-a-kind unlisted token. :thumb: My Strood uniface token may be a one-of-a-kind but since it's uniface and no issuer, I don't think it will ever qualify but it's my one for now.

 

I haven't gotten one of the girls yet, I'm always outbid on them. Also, I'm dying to get a heart shaped one but talk about expensive! I almost got a heart shaped one but then someone outbid me in the last second so I became #2 bidder, which is a place I'm used to.

Ribbit

Ps: Mary Knot isn't in Boyne's. Is it covered in Dickenson?

 

Since you and I seem to be the only one that collect these on CT, I guess we can turn this thread into a 17th Century English Trade Tokens thread and keep posting ones we have. Maybe we can edumacate the folks on here? :goofer:

Clement March Farthing from Ramsgate (Volume 1, page 379, #453):






Barnard Reve Farthing from Basingstoke (Volume 1, page 260, #38):






Tauton Farthing (Volume 2, page 987, #229):






John Pratt Half-Peny Stowbridge - one of only 2 half-peny tokens from Stowbridge (Volume 2, page 873, #241):






It's nice to finally meet someone else that collects these. :hail:

Ribbit

 

Hey! Just because I don't collect them doesn't mean I'm not interested. Its just that none have fallen into my lap yet. I actually have a book on Welsh tokens that I have yet to read. Very neat tokens!

 

That is a very specialized area of numismatics you guys are into! But seems very interesting.
I once bought a whole bunch of French Jetons which had very intricate designs
but i was unable to find any references for them, so i sold them eventually.
I wish now i had kept them....

 

Must have been a cheese merchant, while that instrument doesn't look familiar to us in the 21st century, it is for cutting cheese.

That is what I love about these tokens, they are sort of a link to a past that is otherwise overlooked. They are a serious little darkside for me - they are very personal and can often be linked to a particular person on a particular street or lane in a town. Because of record keeping then you can sometimes find out something about the issuers, their address, occupation, family, even religion sometimes.

This piece is normally too plain for me to collect, but I could trace the issuer:



Issued by Edward Pursell(Purcell) in Bucks in 1668, there are still Pursells, Purcells in that part of Bucks county to this day.

The baker, the brewer and the candlestick maker all issued tokens, this from a candle maker:



Thomas Ewin of Cambridge, he was the son of John Ewin then the Mayor of Cambridge, and their house at 69 Bridge St. still stands.

This is one of my faves because of the little raven on the piece:



Not noted on the token, but for the initials, this was issue by William Warwick in Gloucester in 1650, for his Raven Taverne. Perhaps this piece was given out in change for a purchase of a mug of meade.

This piece is from an inn, which was built ca. 1490 and owned by the Searancke family since early in the 16th century:



Notice the early spelling convention of their family name. This piece is from Hatfield Herts. The chequerboard usually signified an inn, chequers being a prominent game of chance then.

So yes, indeed, perhaps we are the only collectors of these pieces. And I have been asked by sellers in the UK why I was interested in such distant pieces. They are very personal, and so easy to tie to a particular person that lived some 340+ years ago, and note their occupation, location etc.

I will post some more to the 17th century thread later today.

 

BTW I have seen several lower grade heart shaped tokens going, most of them are not collectable except for the shape of the token because of the low grade. I did see one last fall going on eBay that was easily VF and it went for 1500 sterling, then about $2700.

I have one octagon shaped piece, but aside from that the rest of mine are round.

 

You missed my question about your Mary Knot half-peny. It's not in Boyne's so does it show up in the newer book? Also, what book would you recommend for these? I only have the 2 volume Boyne's set to use but I know a couple thousand have been added since then so it wouldn't hurt for me to get the better book for these. :goofer:

Ribbit

Ps: That is a cheese knife on the March token. He was a cheese cutter.

 

The Mary Knot piece? I wish I had a reference for it, the problem I have is that the references are skint, and tend to focus on a particular area and not the whole of England. So I have no references, I just buy them kind of off the cuff and research them.

 

Do you have Boyne's 2 Volume set? I have links to online versions that I use and I find them quite easy to use, since I can use the search feature. :thumb:

I'll PM you the links if you need them.

Ribbit

 

No I don't, as noted above, I have absolutely no references on them besides what I have been able to find on the internet.

Here is a Richard Ely at the 3 Sammons piece from Oxford:



Notice the three fish, this was apparently an innkeepers token. I am sure he had that on his signboard also.

This was the first token I bought years ago, from Norwich, Norfolk:



Issued by Edward Buxton in 1653, this is a grocer's token.

 

This piece was issue by William Crapp of Bridgwater Somerset in 1670:



There was another issuer in Bridgwater with the name Richard Crapp, and they were likely related but little is known about the issuers now.

 

Here is another token issued by a woman, Judith Davis in Rederiff, Rotherhithe in Surrey, apparently this was a theatrical venue:



Also from Surrey, but this issued by a letter carrier, Thomas Wilmot from neere Guildford:



This is just a neat little piece with the image of the letter carrier and his mail bag.

 

I told Garrett's mom about this one and joked about the poor guy when he was a kid and the other kids teasing him by calling out his name - Will Crapp. However, Garrett explained that the crapper didn't get's its name until well after poor William was in the ground.

Ribbit