Won this on listia and thought it was pretty cool. Tad bit confusing tho Ive read the date of 1830 isent correct because she didnt become queen intill 1837. queen is spelled quen not sure if its a error or abbreviation. The other dates spell it queen. For some reason the 1830 quen has a rarity of 92 on numismaster. which says its rare but i dont believe that so im not sure why the number is 92. any way to find the real date? story "The design of these counters is loosely based on the British gold sovereign. The reverse legend "To Hanover" is a reference to an obscure bit of British history. Queen Victoria's ancestors, going back to George I in the early 1700's, came from the German country of Hanover, and the kings of Britain remained still the kings of Hanover even after the family packed up and moved to Britain - they were kind of like absentee landlords there, and the two countries were completely separate in government, language, culture etc. - they simply happened to share a monarch. However, the laws of inheritance in Hanover were strictly males only, while the law in Britain allowed a woman to inherit the throne if she had no brothers. Thus, when Queen Victoria's father died in 1837, she inherited the throne of Britain but she wasn't allowed to inherit Hanover as well. The title of King of Hanover went to the Queen's nearest male relative, her uncle, Ernst August, the Duke of Cumberland. It is this gentleman that we see on the reverse of your counter, riding off to Hanover with a kingly crown on his head. Instead of slaying the dragon beneath him, as St George does on the gold coin this was copied from, Ernst is leaping over the dragon in his haste to leave Britain as quickly as possible. The Duke wasn't popular in Britain, and the general public were quite pleased to have Victoria on their throne instead of him. So the "political message" behind this little counter is this: "Hanover can keep that lousy Duke, if they want him, and good riddance to him; we'll keep our Queen, thank you very much"
The use of jetons dates back to the 11th or 12th century in the Mediterranean regions. They were originally used as counters by merchants much like the abacus was used in the orient. Eventually, they evolved into use to keep score for table games. It was not uncommon to "mix and match" die pairs, so it is possible that the reverse dated 1830 has little or no relation to Queen Victoria's reign. Chris
it calls her her "Her Most Glorious Majesty the Queen" hmgm queen so the obverse has to be after 1837 right? well atleast i know its from before 1883 "They were made for over 30 years, mainly in Birmingham. In 1871 a new design was introduced on the gold sovereign which closely resembled the To Hanover pieces. Unscrupulous people began to pass the counters as gold coins and their production became illegal under the Counterfeit Medal Act of 1883". im not sure how it got so worn down the unc ones look sweet
I have a slightly different perspective on this coin. First, 1830 was an important landmark year in Great Britain (or more correctly, the United Kingdom). It was a year of two monarchs: George IV (who died in June) and William IV who would go on to rule until 1837. It wasn’t until 1837, when her uncle died, did Victoria become queen. (Her father died in 1820.) In 1830, Victoria was only eleven. The obverse of this coin is the iconic young Queen Victoria head from 1837. It is unlikely that any near contemporary of the young Queen would have made such an obvious mistake. I also have a problem with the significance of the inscription “To Hanover” on the reverse. As mentioned, Victoria was prohibited by Salic law from becoming sovereign of Hanover. Despite what was written by many (Whig) historians and those who favored Catholic emancipation, Duke Ernest was not disliked by everyone in Great Britain. In fact, Ernest was later reasonably popular as King of Hanover. I think by 1837 many in a war-weary Britain had tired of Hanover. Hanover, which was located in Northern Germany, had forced Great Britain into many unwanted foreign entanglements. Hanover, therefore, distracted an increasingly nationalistic Great Britain with the politics of the continent of Europe. The first two Hanoverian Kings (George I from 1714-1727 and George II from 1727-1760) were both born in Hanover and not Great Britain. English was not their first language and they frequently traveled to Hanover. The third Hanoverian king (George III 1760-1820) was born in England and he never traveled to Hanover. George III was George II’s grandson. He can be considered the first truly British Hanoverian king. I suspect most of the Brits by 1837 were just happy to see Hanover gain its separation from The United Kingdom. Duke Ernest's leaving was just an added bonus for many. A nice and fun token, by the way. guy
I like gaming tokens because they are cheap and old. Thing is most of the ones I see are sold each, and shipping per 1 is high. I'd rather find them at a dealer where I can get a few of them.
