1814 Withymoor Merchant Token

JRocco

Does anyone have any info about this piece. Is this a common piece? Thanks in advance.

JRocco

ttt- Anybody ????

AuldFartte

I don't have the book on those tokens. They are later than the "Conder" tokens, but circulated the same way: to make small change because the government didn't mint much, if any, small denominations.

I have seen that piece on Ebay before, but I can't remember how much it sold for, or its rarity.

farthing

Unfortunatey, somewhat outside my area of knowledge.

There were 3 main periods in English history when, due to the lack of regal coinage, tokens were used as emergency coinage. The first was in the mid-seventeenth century, the second was the late eighteenth century (Conder tokens) and the last was the early nineteenth century which your token was part of.

The current "bible" on the tokens of this period is British Copper Tokens 1911-1820 by Paul and Bente Withers. This has somewhat replaced the classic book on the topic by W. J. Davis.

You might want to go to Google and search on Withymoor token, several hits would be found. One included this bit of information from Richard Doty:

"If ironworks formed a prominent type on nineteenth-century tokens, so did the secondary industries related to them. One of the best views of an early industrial plant which we shall ever see is displayed on a series of penny tokens issued by the Withymoor Scythe Works, located in the Staffordshire town of that name, in 1813 and 1814. The obverses of these pieces depict the forging operation, in such minute detail that we are able to conclude that the steam engine powering things was one of the Watt rotative types with a sun-and-planet gear arrangement. Typical products of the firm grace the reverse. Other businesses turning iron into secondary products also received their due on the tokens of these years, including several weapons manufacturers. "

ormandh

I am out of the realm with tokens in general, but I have to say that these are looking more appetizing the more I see them. I am more of an outsider when it comes to collecting. I find that it is more fun to collect things that seem out of the norm or not mainstream. I know it sounds dumb, but it satisfies me to find out about things I have never seen or known about and to know something about an object that not many care to know about or have never had the priviledge to see. Thanks for the pics!! -Dan

JRocco

Thanks guys. The info you always provide is worth more than you think.


Thanks guys.