Coool! Love this "token" from England. I did some research and found out there are 15 varieties of this although I believe this to be probably the most common. Here's what it should look like: (NOT my coin, otherwise I'd be rich, LOL.)
This one is a plain edge there are also 7 other edge types.. PCGS list 18 varieties but only 8 edge patterns with R/RB/BN varieties bringing it to 18 the types are 1790s Tkn 1/2P Kentucky, Plain Edge (#614) 1790s Tkn 1/2P Kentucky, Engrailed Edge (#617) 1790s Tkn 1/2P Kentucky, Bedworth Edge (#620) 1790s Tkn 1/2P Kentucky, Lancaster Edge (#623) 1790s Tkn 1/2P Kentucky, I Fielding Edge (#626) 1790s Tkn 1/2P Kentucky, W Parker Edge (#629) 1790s Tkn 1/2P Kentucky, Birmingham Edge (#913240) 1790s Tkn 1/2P Kentucky, Vine Edge (#913392)
Kool piece of history dating back to the founding of our country. Scooping the BP is always satisfyingly to say the least. Kiss that grandchild for me.......
Looks better. Maybe they used "Renaissance Wax"?? I've used it on Colonial coins myself. It's okay but you have to apply just the right amount.
The Kentucky Token caught my eye years ago. It was one of the first Colonial coins I owned. I still have it.
I had a Kentucky token in PCGS graded Mint State when I was a dealer and was barely able to sell it in the $1,000 range. It all depends on what you paid for this piece, but the line I got was, “lt’s a Condor token.”
I am going to brutally honest about this Kentucky token. I think that it is probably genuine, but it looks like a ground salvage piece that was found with a metal detector. It is not nice in any way. It is corroded and worth a fraction of a nice example. The 2024 Red Book says the most common VF Kentucky token is worth $175 retail. That for a VF with honest wear. This piece is corroded and not even worth half of that. I am doing this to spare other collectors who might be drawn to something like this. I learned about buying and selling coins through the school of hard knocks, and I'm trying to spare some other people from making the same mistake.
Ok 1st off John is correct it show mild corrosions and was probably a dug piece at some point. It is not a cast piece... However on the 2nd part about "list price" let me just say I have been after this token seriously for over 2yrs now and yes plenty availble starting at a minumum of $250 and that for pieces in seriously worse condition then this one... BUT!! I also agree with John on the last part... if I were to attempt to resell her tomorrow, I'd be lucky to get $100 from an LCS however at auction... No I would have no problem in the present market getting my money back with a profit.. early colonials and US coins seem to be spiking at this time.... next week who knows... so I'll say once again.. buy what you like, enjoy it for what it is, don't expect to make a profit or even break even... This is COLLECTING... Not investing and ultimately no matter how carefully you shop and buy you will lose money so make sure you enjoy what you are spending it on
People, who know what they are doing, are not beating down the fences to buy badly corroded copper. Here are the photos of the piece I had 20 years ago when I was a dealer. I think that the PCGS grade was MS-64, Brown. You can see how much detail has been lot on your piece because of the corrosion. The other problem with the Kentucky token is that a lot of advanced collectors don't think that it's a colonial coin at all. It's a Condor token which MAY have circulated in American during the "Confederation period." Collectors pushed the editors of the Red Book to include a lot more coins and not make such a big deal out of pieces like this.
You certainly have to be prepared to make concessions when it comes to colonials. They definitely aren’t the kind of coins you insist on ms70’s! I’ve actually been doing well on Connecticut coppers lately, I’ve gotten a couple much better varieties at downright amazing prices. Some other areas are definitely tougher though. Love the colonials, I bought my first one around 50 years ago now, and I am still enthralled with them!
Some “colonial coins” (Many of them were issued in the mid 1780s during the Confederation Congress.) are hard to find in high or even nice grades, but not all of them are. The best known hoard coin is the 1773 Virginia half penny, but there are a number of others. They are not cheep, but for a thousand to a few thousand dollars, you can get pieces in AU and even Mint State. I will post a few of them tomorrow under a new title.
Thank you for your insight. The Cohen hoard of Virginia halfpennies, and the Bank of New York keg of Fugios provided a pretty good supply of high grade examples of those issues, and many others can be found in smaller numbers. Rosa Americanas are surprisingly available in higher grades. With deep pockets, you could probably put together a type collection of high grade colonial/pre-federal pieces, but when you get into collecting by variety, many are only known in lower grade. No matter how you look at it, it is a fascinating field with many nooks and crannies to explore.
