I almost missed Dix Noonan Webb’s auction of ‘the Collection of Samuel Birchall of Leeds (1761-1814)’. As is usually the case with such collections, my first thought was, who’s he? In any case, his coins were rather average. But it should’ve been of interest. First, it was 200 years old. It’s not exactly unheard of for old collections to be auctioned, but when the ‘previous owner’ died 200 years ago, you have a head start on provenance. Then there’s the man himself. ‘Samuel Birchall of Leeds’ was a numismatist, most (un)remembered as ‘the man who would’ve been a lot more famous if he’d done a better job of cataloguing tokens than James Conder’. He was a partner in his wife’s family firm of wool-staplers, when he began collecting the tokens that appeared during the coinage crisis of the 1780s. Although his father warned him of shopkeepers’ reluctance to accept them, a friend suggested issuing them would be a good investment: “Surely if a piece of silver [worth 2½ shillings] can be so easily disposed of for [3½ shillings], it would pay [to issue them]”. Henry Brownbill Halfpenny Token, March-May 1793. Not from the Samuel Birchall Collection Soho Mint, Birmingham. Copper, 28.8mm, 11.8g. Bishop Blaise in mitre holding a wool comb, SUCCESS TO THE YORKSHIRE WOOLLEN MANUFACTORY. Perspective view of Leeds Cloth Hall, built 1765. Edge: PAYABLE AT H. BROWNBILL’S, SILVERSMITH (Birchall L 12, p.47. DH Yorkshire 31). Bishop Blaise was a 4th Century Armenian martyr, put to death with red-hot rakes. As the patron saint of wool combers, he gets to hold his own rake. So it was that in 1793 Samuel enlisted the services of Matthew Boulton of the Soho Mint to issue tokens to represent the city’s wool trade. His first tokens were issued on behalf of a consortium led by local silversmith Henry Brownbill and featured Bishop Blaise, patron saint of wool combers. Samuel may have been inspired by the tokens issued by Richard Paley in Leeds in 1791, which also featured the Bishop, but was not happy that for his tokens Boulton reused the obverse dies from tokens he’d issued in Cronebane, Ireland, featuring St Patrick. Still, Samuel commissioned more tokens from Boulton, including some in his own name (Birchall L 10, p.47, featuring a suspended fleece). He then published the first reference for tokens, A Descriptive List of the Provincial Copper Coins or Tokens issued between the Years 1786 and 1796, based on his own collection. It was still two years before James Conder published his, but Samuel’s ‘unsophisticated’ descriptions and lack of comprehensiveness (despite including 1000 tokens) meant his effort was superseded by Conder’s and then Dalton and Hamer’s. Samuel didn’t just collect tokens, as attested by their absence from the auction. He also collected stuffed creatures (auctioned off in 1813), minerals and coins, and was involved in the study of a hoard of Anglo-Viking coins in 1807. His collection covered British coins from the Saxons to the 1660s - the coin I bought is from the latter. It’s incredible to think the last owner of this English Civil War-era coin bought it when it was barely 140 years old – not dissimilar to me owning a Victorian Penny, a coin that was demonetised around the time I was born. Victoria Penny, 1865. Not from the Samuel Birchall Collection London. Bronze, 31.0mm, 9.4g. ‘Bun Head’ (S 3954). This penny’s engraver was Leonard Wyon, grandson of Peter Wyon, who with his twin Thomas engraved Samuel Birchall’s tokens. Having said Samuel Birchall’s collection wasn’t up to much, I’ve built this up way too high. But the coin I bought needs a brief introduction. By the time the English Civil War ended in 1651, the King had been relieved of his head and so had the coins. The ‘puritan’ design was meant to get away from deifying a ruler – Oliver Cromwell refused to wear a crown for fear of displeasing God. Besides, in 1651 there was no ruler. The ‘Commonwealth of England’ was run by the Rump Parliament (‘Rump’ as it was purged of Royalists), guided by a Council of State, of which Oliver Cromwell was Chairman and John Bradshaw (a judge) was President. Commonwealth Shilling (Mintmark Sun), 1651. Still not from the Samuel Birchall Collection Tower Mint. Silver, 32mm, 5.8g. English shield within branches of laurel (victory) and palm (peace), sun mintmark, THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND. English and Irish shields, value XII, GOD WITH VS (S 3217). This state of affairs didn’t last. In 1653, Oliver became Lord Protector and began experimenting with milled coinage with his face on it. In 1657 there was a Trial of the Pyx, where the mint tested coins for weight and purity. Following the trial, the mintmark was changed from a sun to an anchor. Oliver died soon after and his son Richard took over. Over the next two years, a very few poor-quality coins were produced, somewhat symbolic of Richard Cromwell’s tenure. Samuel Birchall acquired one, and this is the coin I bought. Commonwealth Sixpence (Mintmark Anchor), 1660. From the Samuel Birchall Collection Tower Mint. Silver, 2.98g. English shield within laurel and palm branch, anchor mintmark, THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND. English and Irish shields, value VI, GOD WITH VS (S 3220). The shields on the reverse were satirically referred to as ‘breaches for the Rump’. Convention has it that coins with the sun mintmark were struck under Oliver Cromwell, while those with an anchor were struck under Richard Cromwell. But Oliver didn’t become Lord Protector until 1653, while Richard had already been relieved of his position in 1659. So, while I now have coins with both the sun and anchor mintmarks, neither was struck under a Cromwell. The rarity of coins with the anchor mintmark is due to a low mintage but also to the fact that Republicanism failed. Charles II returned in 1660 and the Commonwealth coinage was recalled and melted down, reducing the population by two thirds. They are, therefore, sought after despite their scrappiness. Samuel Birchall's coins were not spectacular, but when a coin is typically poor anyway, having him on the provenance certainly adds to its interest and makes it much more pleasurable to own. Sources DNW Auction, British Coins from the Collection of Samuel Birchall of Leeds (1761-1814) Soho Mint, Samuel Birchall
Nice writeup! Birchall's private 1/2P. This got me wondering if Birchall was the one who punched a tiny "B" near the date of a number of high quality Conder tokens as illustrated by a fellow collector's token below.
