Middlesex 1793 half penny token D&H-834
This specimen was lot 74839 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2024), where it sold for $660. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. Trade Tokens. Middlesex. Spence's Copper 1/2 Penny Token, 1793. NGC MS-64 Brown. Edge: Plain. A an obverse die variant of the popular 'hangman' type, this near-Gem dazzles with far more brilliance and eye appeal than is generally encountered." Numista comments, "The token satirizes contemporary English political activist Thomas Paine, known as the Godfather of the American Revolution, who became a much-hated figure in [Georgian] Britain due to his advoca[cy] for the abolition of monarchy. The book depicted on the reverse is a parody of The Rights of Man, a book written by him and published in 1791. Varieties exist. The date on the open book refers to the date Louis XVI was executed in France."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: copper, 6.91 g, 29.5 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: D&H-834.
- 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, February 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
Link to:
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- Middlesex 1793 half penny token D&H-1106a Spence's "End of Pain"
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- North Wales 1793 farthing token D&H-15a
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- Staffordshire 1793 half penny token D&H-13A, Leek
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- Coins and currency dated 1793