Coal Trade Halfpenny - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 510
Lucky Cuss Pillar of the Community United States 4883 Posts	Posted 02/20/2024 4:56 pm I'm uncertain as to the source of this one, as coal has long been mined throughout Britain. This ship die was used on a County Durham, South Shields issue. It's neither denominated nor dated, but by its size this was clearly intended to serve as a halfpenny. The edge is marked: "PAYABLE IN LONDON". Colligo ergo sum Report this Post to the Staff

jbuck Moderator United States 187582 Posts	Posted 02/20/2024 5:09 pm A beautiful example! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
Coinfrog Bedrock of the Community United States 94367 Posts	Posted 02/20/2024 5:11 pm Not my field, but very cool! Report this Post to the Staff
Anaximander Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 709 Posts	Posted 02/20/2024 9:55 pm I believe your token is an example of a contemporary scam. I note that there is no date on your token, and more importantly no attempt to identify itself with any particular trader or manufacturer. There is not even a deliberately blundered legend trying to pass itself off as a genuine one. The edge inscription saying it is payable in London is laughable. If you were unlucky enough to have 480 of these there is no way you could trace an issuer to turn it into coins or notes of the realm. I strongly suspect that was the intention. Re the date, it is likely 1795 to 1796. The text about the Prince and Princess of Wales is an exact copy of that on D&H Middlesex 923. This was struck by Peter Kempson for "general circulation" ( whatever that might mean !). According to RC Bell, Kempson had a record of making some dodgy tokens. The text refers to the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Caroline, daughter of the Duke of Brunswick, on 8/4/1795. The wonky lettering of the text on your token is quite distinctive and exactly matches that of Kempson's, so I believe it was the same die. The poor rendering of the text side contrasts with the ship, which looks to me to be very well done. Because the ship appears with one of Kempson's dies I think the ship die must be one of his also. This is where the plot thickens. Your token is listed by D&H as D&H Durham 6. Durham 7 has the same ship as yours on one side. On the other it has a shield involving crossed spades with a windlass on top. Around the shield is the text ASSOCIATED IRISH MINERS ARMS. This legend is a deliberately blundered one on known fakes of tokens from Wicklow in Ireland, eg D&H Wicklow 43 among others. The genuine legend for these tokens is ASSOCIATED IRISH MINE COMPANY. As the majority of working people could not read in those days, this would have been good enough to pass. It would have been easy for Kempson to sell these tokens to a shifty shopkeeper or bar owner, who would then slip them quietly into "general circulation". Both Kempson and his fence would make a nice little profit. What do you think? Edited by Anaximander 02/20/2024 9:56 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Lucky Cuss Pillar of the Community United States 4883 Posts	Posted 02/20/2024 11:22 pm Certainly the unregulated issuance of provincial tokens was inherently chaotic. You had local authorities, social and political activists, merchants, and so on all contracting for their striking, each with their own agenda, noble or not, in distributing them. And as you point out, the opportunity was there for the makers themselves to produce them, either as miniature pieces of fine art for the well heeled to collect, or as expressions of popular sentiments for sale to those who could place them in circulation. resulting in a profit for both of those parties at the expense of the individuals who in the end were stuck with them. All this doesn't even take into account how rife forgery became, and of course such counterfeits were never going to be redeemable. Colligo ergo sum Edited by Lucky Cuss 02/21/2024 08:15 am Report this Post to the Staff
erafjel Pillar of the Community Sweden 2124 Posts	Posted 02/21/2024 09:22 am Interesting account of the token trade, @Anaximander. Report this Post to the Staff
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