Conder Tokens - What are the most popular types?

msch1man

I collect primarily U.S. coins, but appreciate great designs when I see them. As part of my "colonial" type set I've picked up a couple types that are actually technically Conder tokens...the Kentucky and Franklin Press Tokens. I haven't done very much research at all on the series as a whole, but it appears to be a really interesting series with a lot of great designs (literally several thousand if I'm not mistaken). Some of the designs appear to be much more popular than others...the 'End of Pain' tokens, the 'Wildman' token, the 'Birds and Beast' token. I'm curious are there certain types/designs like these that are extremely popular with collectors (maybe like a top 5 or 10)? Any info. would be greatly appreciated!

brg5658

This is almost an impossible question to answer (the Conder's are far too broad a bunch of tokens to pick out any short list of "popular" pieces), but...

The entire Pidc-ock's series featuring various animals are very popular (Middlesex 414-458 and a few others)

As you stated, the "End of Pain" or hanging man types are also very popular (too many to list, spread about in the series)

The "Am I Not a Man and a Brother" anti-slavery tokens are also popular (Middlesex 233-238).

While the Wildman is pretty popular (Midd-905/906), I wouldn't say it's popular compared to any of those I've mentioned above. It's scarce, and a cool piece -- but it doesn't have great mass appeal.

Other pieces that I see listed for (almost absurd) high prices are Spence's pieces with the cat, dog, and some of the other Spence tokens.

All of these "popular" examples are only from Middlesex county -- so you have only scratched the surface!

Boosibri

The Cat and Dog issue is popular . Stay away from tokens with buildings and people you have never heard of.

brg5658

<< <i>The Cat and Dog issue is popular .

Stay away from tokens with buildings and people you have never heard of. >>



Unless of course, that's what you're interested in. The tokens with buildings are incredibly affordable in high MS grades even -- and everyone is interested in different things.

If you only want to collect "popular" things, then also realize that you'll pay through the nose. IMO the Cat and Dog issues are massively overpriced for what they are, and given how common they are. The one that was posted on the CRO site for a few months at $3,000 in PCGS MS66RB just sold in the Heritage auction last week for around $1,500. Even the Heritage price is still probably 50% plastic/label fever and 50% actual value of the token.

Any of the tokens that have been appropriated by the USA Redbook or by USA dealers as having some link to the United States are also disproportionately expensive.

Collect what you like, as you have several thousand designs to choose from.

Stork

Conders are a lot of fun. Some people go for political themes, others for critters...I have a few with storks and some with mythological beasts--Griffins, hippocamps, unicorns etc. I also like the cat and dog...the dog (Hendons ?) is a sighthound so i "had" to have one. I'm at work and can't confirm the variety at the moment and realized I haven't looked at it in awhile. I'll have to fix that! I also claim not to collect them, but have somehow aquired about 20.

In any case, I agree it's hard to say what is popular,but it's easy to find something you like.

I looked at several in Baltimore and sadly it looks like plastic fever is taking over. I don't mind the plastic, it makes Internet shopping easier, and I like the uniformity of the storage. Unfortunately, in the quest for higher grades apparently, some look to be getting 'conserved' in a way that looks very unauthentic to their history. The ones not messed with seem to top out at a 64 grade but the spiffier up ones are getting higher grades. I prefer the more original look. I mean, they LOOK pretty, but I'm not sure conders were meant to BE pretty by 2015 standards.... Hopefully the Groll website will be recovered some day, he had mostly unslabbed and original looking, but plenty of slabs showing both. It was a very interesting table to check out.

edited because I just realized that the word 'unslabbed' was changed to 'unplanned' by my tablet. My laptop is desperately trying to change it to 'unsalted'. I'm sure ALL the coins, including those in/out of slabs, were unsalted. I hate autocorrect...except on those rare occasions it's right.

msch1man

Appreciate the info. from everyone. I don't plan on necessarily "collecting" conders, but I've found them catching my eye more and more recently and need to do some basic research. I'll probably go ahead and buy the digital copy of the 'Ultimate Guide...' book available at http://www.condertokenbook.com/. That seems like a reasonable place to start.


<< <i>I also claim not to collect them, but have somehow aquired about 20. >>


...with all my other collecting goals, I hope I don't find myself in this same situation.

Appreciate all the info. so far and would love any additional info. for someone just starting to look at conders (good dealers, where to get pricing info, tips, etc.).

Thanks!