They arrived in the mail today and tried the best I can to show them off to you.
William Till, Silver Halfpenny, 1794, obv lion rampant to left.
Not mentioned in the auction but if you see it in hand you will agree this is a proof. So the rarity started out as very rare as it is silver.....The toning is so beautiful.....a sky blue with some peach and yellows in it.
His mane is yellow so it looks like he is blonde!
Two pics of each to try and show it off.
Here is the 411 on W Till's Bucks Red Lion Inn Halfpenny....This is silver and quite rare compared to the copper.
Though this piece and other Slough pieces are in Dalton & Hamer among provincial tokens of the 18th Century, by most accounts this piece was struck around 1839 and dated 1794 by a coin dealer named William Till.
According to an article in the 1903 British Numismatic Journal, Hamer writes the:
"There are some tokens purporting by the design to have been issued by John Peckham, chemist and druggist, of Slough; and some by W. Till, wine and spirit merchant, of the Red Lion Inn. No mention is made of any of these by Birchall, Conder, Pye, or Sharp, nor are they illustrated in the Virtuoso's Companion, the general opinion being that they were struck for William Till, the coin dealer, probably about the time that he issued the previous specimen. The first numismatic work in which they are recorded is that published by the late D. R. Batty, of Manchester. The writer of the The Bazaar "Notes" describes them, and states that Peckham was a coin collector, and William Till bought his collection. In all probability these tokens were struck to sell to collectors, and bearing, as they do, a fictitious date, W. Till's 1794, J. Peckham's 1795, they cannot be regarded as private tokens."
Below are some screenshots of the Red Lion Inn. It is still open. Although it was closed for sometime to do many repairs.
http://www.redlionhotelwendover.co.ukGoogle image of street
Another street scene from Google
Google Map.....Maybe since the auction was held in London and this Red Lion Inn is not too far from it someone wanted it really bad???
The next 2 pictures are from Red Lion Inn website
This is inside the courtyard....as you can see on the token reverse shows a gate to enter and in the pictures. This is what is inside.
Skidmore, Copper Halfpenny, 1793, obv man hanging on a gibbet, church in the distance, END OF PAIN around, rev open book inscribed THE WRONGS OF MAN. JANY. 21 : 1793, edge plain D&H 834
All I can say about this rare halfpenny.....is WOW!!
Its toned, mostly red and just unbelievably reflective fields in hand.
If I didn't know better I would say its a proof...but its not,
Skidmore, Copper Farthing mule, 1796, obv female seated holding a harp,
Dublin, D&H 404
While not very rare as its scarce its a nice example.
Last but not least is just about the nicest Wild Man I have seen thus far.
Well struck as the teeth, nose, shin and hair are fully struck. The reverse is just a tad weak on the cipher but very nice.
Color is not dark with some red showing.....usually they are on the darker side.
Very rare and even rarer struck nice and high mint state. D&H 906
Richard Summers, Copper Halfpenny, 1797, obv head of a wild man
