I also posted this on the CU forum, but wanted to be sure to share these with you guys too! Thanks to Stefanie/CoinsAreFun, Conder101, Catbert, and a couple other Conder lovers, I've recently gotten interested in Conder tokens so I decided to buy a few that I thought had some interesting and intricate designs. I also bought a couple books and have been trying to learn their history and background, but I still have a lot to learn. Any way, here is what I have so far. Photos are courtesy of Todd Pollock at bluccphotos.com, of course! Any thoughts and comments are welcome....
I stand(er sit) in awe, those are beyond beautiful. When you collect you really COLLECT. :thumb:. My favorite is the 1795 William Allen London
Wow, what a beautiful collection!! I am partial to the 18th Century Free School and 1797 Ford's Hospital myself. Ben
Interesting I didnt have a clue what they are and for others who may not here is a wiki link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conder_Token
Thanks Silvermonger - Here's what the Wiki site actually says, which is good description of Conders: "Conder Tokens, also known as 18th Century Provincial Tokens, were first minted In 1787 by the Parys Mining Company that mined copper ore. They had plenty of copper, access to mints, and there was little low value coinage to be had in Anglesey thus they began minting their own penny and half penny tokens. Not long after others would follow suit and begin designing and minting their own small denomination coinage. Copper coinage was produced sporadically from the late 1600s to the late 1700s, sometimes not at all, for various reasons. Conder Tokens are named after James Conder who was an early collector and cataloged these interesting coins. They are copper coins (usually pennies and half pennies) minted by towns, businesses, and organizations of all types to meet a need for low denomination coinage that was not being provided, not being minted in sufficient quantity by government, or not making it out to the small towns. These lower denominations were needed to pay workers and make change in an increasingly industrialized society. Thousands of varieties of tokens were minted, many are beautiful and intricate works of art. Because Conder Tokens were minted independently of government, the creators of these tokens had the freedom to make political statements, social commentary, honor great men, ideals, great events, or just advertise their businesses. Subjects range from Isaac Newton to Abolition and Prisons to Mental Institutions, issuers of the coins need only have the means and the will to mint their own coin. Most were officially payable only in certain areas and locations but there is no doubt that copper coin was copper coin to many at the time and they were widely circulated."
STOP IT STORMY! I don't want you to get me hooked on these things, too... I like the 1795 William Allen one! Very nice! Congrats So what do we call you now? The Conder Lady?
No, that's ok Travis, since these were considered "half pennies," I think The Penny Lady will still do, thank you!
HOORAY! I didn't want to change the bookmark from thepennylady.com to, theconderlady.com It would be kinda odd...
Here's a link to the Conder Club, but I found mine at a couple different shows from various dealers, especially foreign coin dealers. http://conderclub.homestead.com/
