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 Replies: 7 / Views: 794 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1057 Posts |
I finally got these guys to sit down together for a photo! (A bunch of scans, actually.)
They're two of my Birmingham Workhouse sixpence tokens, the copper trial strike and the silver piece that actually circulated.
After much mental anguish and arithmetic, I've ensured that this image shows the two tokens in their actual proportionate relation to one another, diameter-wise.
As for why the two shields bearing the Birmingham City coat of arms are shaped differently, I've got no clue...artistic license, perhaps?
In order of appearance below, these are Withers 376 (45mm, 137g) and Dalton 8 (25mm).
About a dozen uncancelled specimens are known of the copper trial, which is 10mm thick, That by itself explains why it wasn't adopted for issuance by the Workhouse...it's very much like a hockey puck, and only a shade lighter at over 4.5 ounces. For another perspective, it's basically 2.5 times the weight of a 1797 two-penny "Cartwheel" but only 4mm "wider" across.
"If everything seems to be under control, you're just not going fast enough."
--- Mario Andretti
Edited by daltonista
07/10/2025 10:51 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19112 Posts |
Tokens with character, indeed!
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Moderator
 United States
187580 Posts |
Very nice!  |
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Moderator
Australia
16806 Posts |
Quote:
As for why the two shields bearing the Birmingham City coat of arms are shaped differently, I've got no clue...artistic license, perhaps? More or less, yes. In heraldry, the shield shape usually isn't defined in the written description, so in rendering the arms the shape is essentially up to personal taste. In addition, Birmingham was not formally granted its own coat of arms until 1889; this is an "unofficial arms", adopted and adapted from the noble family after whom Birmingham was named. The current city arms adopted in 1977 is a fancier version but retains the same basic quartering. The shape seen on the sixpence was very popular with other tokens of the same time period; it is a good shape for tokens because the rounded shape allows for larger lettering to be squeezed around it. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5238 Posts |
Oh, so you are one of the people who snagged that rare 6 pence copper! I'd love to get one to add to my 3 pence in copper, but the price and the rarity scares me off.
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Valued Member
New Zealand
188 Posts |
Nice! And interesting history.
Maybe the copper issue was also meant to double as a defensive ranged weapon. Wouldn't want to take one of those to the skull.
Do not read this sentence.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1057 Posts |
Interestingly, Sap, the Workhouse's earlier pattern penny (W390), features yet another, more ornate, shield shape. It was obviously a time of great experimentation...or multiple designers. My example of this specimen engraved by William Wyon appears below. The penny and threepence tokens that actually circulated between 1812 and 1814 -- the ones that match the sixpence coppers in every respect -- are attributed by 19th-century cataloguer Thomas Sharp and others to Thomas Willets.
Oriole, I've somehow managed to pull three of these huge 6d tokens into my collection, so they're out there. And while it helps to have a narrow field of interest like the single decade I collect (George III's last), I think longevity may be the real key...
"If everything seems to be under control, you're just not going fast enough."
--- Mario Andretti
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73595 Posts |
Very cool. Errers and Varietys.
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Replies: 7 / Views: 794 |
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Posted 07/10/2025 3:35 pm
