Last weekend I was trying to track down some background information that might support the existence of contemporary, or maybe late 19th-century, off-metal strikes of the Dolcoath Mines token (Withers 680, Davis Cornwall 14). Apparently tin was mined there extensively in the 1800's, so my tin token would be a natural, especially since that particular token was never dated, not even the original.
In any case, I've been unable to prove or disprove the mintage or issuance of any such OMS strikes, but those of us who collect the Davis/Withers series certainly know the Cornish contingent is rife with counterfeits, reproductions, and other specious or spurious confections, both contemporary and modern.
And now, just to keep us on our toes two centuries later, there is a gift boutique in Cornwall that produces and sells various products such as jewelry, key rings, paperweights, and the like...including a great-looking limited-edition set of exonumia. Many of their items are fabricated out of tin smelted from ore left behind when the original South Crofty mining operation shut down for good in the 1960's.
On their website the merchant is pretty thorough about using words like "replica" and "reproduction," but there are no markings on the "tokens" themselves to indicate that they are basically fantasy pieces. Twenty years from now we'll have new CCF members writing in for help in valuing these knick-knacks they've
inherited, certain that they're rare bits of Cornish history.
But as a long-time collector of the 1811-20 copper and silver tokens, this is the one that really breaks my heart:
Posted 07/21/2021 09:24 am
