Post Your United Kingdom (Great Britain) Coin Acquisitions.

Included in a batch of recent auction wins arriving on my doorstep last week -- well, in my P.O. box -- was this gilt proof 1811 one-penny self-portrait token issued by Edward Thomason of Birmingham.

Withers 281b, RRR; Davis Warwickshire 48, R.r.; 34mm, 18.5g. In all likelihood specimens like this one were distributed the way we use business cards today, solely as advertising pieces for Thomason's business, which was the production of tokens and other fine metalworks. In their comments on this token in their definitive work on the 1811-1820 series of British coppers, Paul and Bente Withers plagiarize Davis a bit in describing Thomason as "an eminent medallist and manufacturer of bronzes [who] received a knighthood in 1832 for being instrumental in improving the Arts and Manufactures."

In addition to a series of Jean Dassier's noted medals, among Thomason's better known issues were the copper pennies and halfpennies of the Fereday iron and lead works in Bilston and Hull, and -- perhaps his pride and joy -- the gold 40-shilling token struck for J.B. Monck of Reading in Berkshire.

Thomason also produced Picard's Peninsular tokens in vast quantities ("upwards of two millions," he wrote) to commemorate Wellington's victories in the continental wars of the era. Because they circulated so widely in Canada -- and well past their expiration date in Britain thanks to the reinstatement of regal coinage -- these are now collected primarily as Canadian tokens.

Very nice!

Daltonista - a really super nice condition gilted penny-token there! Obviously it didn't see much circulation that reverse is so clean. Nice addition.

I agree sometimes I think I was born on the bit of land and the wrong era as well.

How many of these "Händel" tokens are there? I could get one for my Symphony Set.

Thanks for the info, westcoin.

Nice additions, zookeeperz! I believe the Victorian Veiled Head farthings were officially darkened from 1897. I think the reason they started it was because for the first time the farthing and the half-sovereign had identical obverses: up to 1895 the farthings used the 'bun' portrait, which was unique to bronze coins, but from that year they switched to the veiled head that was already used on silver and gold coins. Maybe there were a few complaints from people confusing mint-new farthings with half-sovereigns in 1895-6?

I don't see why you shouldn't include a nice Irish penny in a collection of British coins. Prior to Decimalization, Irish bronze coins and the shilling, florin and halfcrown circulated widely and were accepted in Northern Ireland alongside UK coins, and occasionally turned up in change in mainland Great Britain. (The nickel Irish 3d and 6d coins were of a different specification to UK coins and didn't circulate in the UK). Even now I still occasionally find Irish decimal 1p and 2p coins in circulation, although they haven't been legal tender since Ireland switched to the Euro in 2002!

Very nice!