Middlesex 1792 half penny token D&H-929
This specimen was lot 32504 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, May 2024), where it sold for $105. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. Trade Tokens. Middlesex. Westminster. Copper 1/2 Penny Token, 1792. PCGS MS-63 Brown. Obverse: Bust of John Howard left; Reverse: Cypher. This appealing Choice Mint State Token delivers good eye appeal, with strong charm and allure." The shire of Middlesex, with included the city of London, produced by far the greatest variety of Conder tokens, altho it is uncertain how many were actually made there. This is an early one. Wikipedia comments,
"John Howard FRS (2 September 1726 – 20 January 1790) was a philanthropist and early English prison reformer."
He appeared on several Conder tokens; the issuers of these tokens often found themselves clapped into prison and so took such reform personally.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: copper.
Catalog reference: D&H-929.
- Conder, James. An arrangement of Provincial Coins, tokens, and medalets issued in Great Britain, Ireland, and the colonies, within the last twenty years, from the farthing to the penny size. Ipswich: G. Jermyn, 1798.
- Dalton, Richard, and Samuel H. Hamer. The Provincial Token Coinage of the 18th Century. 1910-1917. reprinted 2015 by Thomas Publications, Gettysburg, PA.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, May 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
Link to:
- Somersetshire (1788-97) half penny token D&H-36, John Howard
- Middlesex 1792 half penny token D&H-928, London and Middlesex
- Hampshire 1795 half penny token D&H-57, John Howard
- Coins and currency dated 1792