In the world of Conder tokens,what is an RR ?

JamesMurray

Hi , this one has bugged me for a while.Some time ago i bought a conder token which the seller had mentioned had written on it's 2x2 it was an RR.The seller surmised it was a railroad token which its obviously not.It's actually whats known as the Edinburgh farthing.It even says as much on it.However i knew RR is a good thing and indicates rarity , my question is how rare is a RR ?

theboz11

Rare = Rare
Very Rare = RR Under 1500?
Extremely rare = RRR Under 500?
Unique or 3-4 made is RRRR

The experts will jump in with the real facts I am sure.

JamesMurray

I hope so Boz , i'd like to know how many actually exist , it had occured to me R = Rare , RR= Really Rare , RRR=Really Really Rare : ) , i guess im not a million miles off track.

Ahhh...i see it now Boz , thank you

theboz11

Nope, you were in the ball park. The token from what I understand were made for collectors, so a mintage should be available. I have some but not as a collectable as such, they have lions on them.

JamesMurray

Ill add a pic this evening , this one is dated 1791 i think , maybe 92 , ive only ever seen two of these and one has a price tag to choke even the hungriest horse.What i know about this one is the sellers father ran a museum on the east coast here,when the Dad passed away the son sold a lot of what was there.Due to his fathers association with railroads it was described as being such,when i type "what is an RR coin" in google all i get is railway tokens so i see how the mistake was made.I paid plenty for it so i don't feel bad , i'm feeling much better now knowing what RR actually means.Thanks Boz : ) Ill deffo put up a pic tonight.

RobP

<< <i>my question is how rare is a RR ? >>



I don't think it will be easy or even possible to answer with absolute numbers. The R, RR, RRR & RRRR were rarity attributions used by Seaby in their catalogues.

Digging out a few old Bulletins, I noticed that coins from the George IV and William IV proof sets were rated R. The mintage of these sets is known to be 150 and 225 respectively, but to give it an R seems a little optimistic when compared with coins that are nowhere near as abundant. For example, an Exeter crown with the date divided by the mintmark of which I have a database of 12 imaged different coins is also assigned R. I also have about 45 unillustrated and unassignable references to any of the previous 12 of which some will be the same coins, whilst the lower grade examples will be unillustrated examples. To say there are somewhere between 20 & 30 in existence would seem to be a reasonable guess as the description is unambiguous and the relative rarity within the Exeter issues acknowledged.

I noticed that they had also assigned a RRRRR rating to a unique coin, so RRRR should be in single figures with 3 or 4 known a sensible limit.

RRR would then go down to say 10 or 12 and RR down to 25-30.

This is all speculative, as I am not aware of any definition by numbers, but is as close as I can guess based on the R values of various known rarities that I have a handle on. It is also down to perception of rarity at the time the value was assigned which is always subject to reconsideration at a later date.

JamesMurray

I'm beginning to wonder if it really is an RR , time i hit the books , thanks RobP & Boz11. Here it is , it's not an easy one to photograph.A shade bigger than a US nickel,both sides are as nice and look Unc or very near.Its the same design as seen on many Edinburgh conders,just smaller.