Post Your Canadian Tokens

The way those bids kept climbing, I felt pretty lucky to learn that I batted 2 for 7 last night. All but one of my bids were for upgrades, so the losses weren't all that terribly heartbreaking. The one new type I really wanted, though, was a VF Genuine British Copper 1/2d variant that sold for US $480...I guess I just missed it by one or two of HA's @#$% double-secret hidden automatic increments. It was also quite shocking to see that Richard Hurd farthing go for US $690...as they say here in New York: Oy!

Just got notice from Heritage about the next round, coming up April 18, so good luck to all!

Personally, I find these two selling prices are quite realistic.

For the LC-54D1 variety, it is only the 3rd TPG token that I know of to exceed the grade VF (It is not for nothing that in the last edition of the Charton catalog, it does not mention a value exceeding the grade VF-20). Moreover, I think it is the most beautiful specimen of this variety that I could observe to date (Unlike the LC-54D2 which is very common in high grade).


For the LC-20A2, this one may have been certified only VF-35, but the token has a lot of details present, while often this variety has a weakness of the strike. Below is a picture of the Patrick specimen compared to the one that was in the Robins collection graded AU-53 and that sold for 1600$ US.

Thus, the Patrick token definitely has more wear, but it has almost all of the legend and motifs (unlike the Robins token).

So, it may not be the deal of the century, but it's not a completely unreasonable price either.

Crudely Struck, But Dented*: Yet Another of My Semi-Canadian Rarities.

Having just barely squeaked through Sunday night's Heritage sale of the Partrick tokens (with only two wins), I was browsing earlier this evening at the next installment, scheduled for April 18th. This token popped up toward the very end of the lots:



The Heritage description reads as follows:
"Blacksmith-Style copper "From Industry Abundance Flows" 1/2 Penny Token 1819 VF20 Brown NGC, BL-Unl., Wood-Unl., Withers-1985a (RRR). Overstruck on a contemporary counterfeit George III 1/2 Penny, with portions of host coin visible. Mr. Partrick writes on his envelope that this type is attributable to the early Canadian blacksmith-like tokens, though Withers places the issue under Irish Non-Local tokens. Sold with old collector envelope detailing provenance.
Purchased from Warren Baker on May 15, 1991; Purchased from the Oppenheim Collection by Randy Weir; Michael Oppenheim Collection; Purchased by Oppenheim from a junk box in 1981
From the Donald G. Partrick Collection
Estimate: $200 - $300."

As it happens, I've had an example of the same token in my collection -- as Withers 1985a and Davis, Dublin 72 -- for about five years. Won it on ebay for a song against zero competition, as I recall. I had no idea anyone considered it a Canadian Blacksmith token...or that it might ever have circulated in Canada. Here's mine:



These are indeed RRR, meaning "almost never seen," and have listed that way even as far back as Davis' 1904 catalogue. DNW sold one in EF two years ago for £1,900 (having listed it with an estimate of £100-150), and that one hadn't moved before then since 1925. Back in 2017, Randy Weir sold one at "EF for issue" for US $450 that he'd acquired in a huge Baldwin's Basement buy of Francis Cokayne's 19th-century tokens. And in 2014 DNW included one in a job lot of 25 old Irish tokens in average condition that brought £580 against an estimate of £200-400. Mine came out of that group.

So what we have here is an Irish non-local piece that's also an unlisted Canadian token and an unlisted Blacksmith. The main clue connecting this token to Canada appears in Davis, who reported that it was struck by the Dubliner William Mossop...whose name has appeared in this very CCF topic, as recently as page 38, in connection with my Charlton NS-8A1. Looks like Mossop specialized in crudely struck tokens!

Given the exposure in the Heritage sale of Partrick's collection, should this piece be listed in the next edition of Charlton?
________________

* As for my title, a tip of the hat goes to Casey Stengel, the Major League Baseball manager who allegedly once remarked to a newspaper reporter about one of his early New York Mets players, "He can't hit, but he's slow."

Daltonista, thanks for the informative write-up! I have never heard of, or seen, that token before.

The legend "FROM INDUSTRY ABUNDANCE FLOWS" does not seem to appear on any Provincial Tokens (at least as far as Dalton & Hamer goes.) To me, the devices/legends are distinctly British/Irish and that would preclude it from being a Canadian-oriented issue.

I would guess that Partrick, like many other collectors of his time, associated perceived "crudeness" with a North American origin. This was especially the case for counterfeit British halfpence of the 18th century, where crude design was seen to be clear evidence of poorer, North American workmanship. However, it has since been shown that many crude issues are distinctly British in origin, and that the degree of workmanship provides no information about the side of the Atlantic on which the coin/token was struck.

Mossop was responsible for a number of enigmatic issues (eg. the 1781 North American token.) I imagine he also struck many of the Camac Kyan Camac tokens (the imitations?) and I have been looking for any device punch linkages between that series at the 1781 token, but that is like trying to find a needle in a haystack!

Great looking mix!

After recently missing out on the Patrick bouquet sous overstruck on a 1781 North American Token there was no way I could let this one get away;

I paid dearly, but what a unique piece,

Bouquet Sous over TS Brown merchant token




.

sorry, you want us to bid because you have items for sale and don't want to loose money?
if so and you are worried you might only get the estimated amount, don't worry, HA.com's estimates are way off a lot of the time.

or you don't want us to bid because you don't want to loose out on winning an item?

another ex-Patrick I managed to snag,

Breton 674 LC40-05 Off Metal, struck in brass