Would you look at this BULL...

brg5658

I grew up on a beef-cattle and wheat farm in central Kansas, and my parents still live there on the family homestead settled in 1878. I now live in a northern blue state (thank goodness!), but there are some things you can't take out of the farm kid -- even if you move to a city.

My father has been running cattle for more than 40 years, the large bulk of them being Herefords. Since first "discovering" Conder tokens some 7 years ago, I have wanted to add an example of the Herefordshire bull token to my collection. In a bit of a bidding war, I ended up the winner of this token in last week's CICF Heritage auction. It is very lustrous in hand, and has some lovely toning -- so I'm glad I was aggressive!

This token is listed in Dalton and Hamer as being scarce (< 200 examples), whereas is Charles Pye's 2nd edition (1801) it is given as having been struck in a very exact quantity of 2,076 impressions. I suspect the truth of the quantity of this particular variety (there are four different versions) is somewhere in between. On average, maybe 1 or 2 examples come up for auction per year -- with full original luster and a nice strike, they are less common.

This token was struck to commemorate Mr. Robert Myddelton Biddulph being elected as a Member of Parliament on June 3rd 1796. The bull breaking his chains represents the county of Herefordshire breaking free from Tory shackles on the election of a Whig. The apple tree alludes to Hereford’s cider industry, and the plow to agriculture.

lordmarcovan

Oh, man, that is one seriously dreamy Conder.

Bet that set you back a bit. (I'm curious, so if you're in the mood to divulge, please PM me.)

Not only is the bull cool, but I really love the tree-and-wreath design on the reverse.

I haven't gotten around to adding a nice Conder token to my box yet, but if I ever do, I want it to be like that.

That one is an eyepopper!

brg5658

<< <i>Oh, man, that is one seriously dreamy Conder.

Bet that set you back a bit. (I'm curious, so if you're in the mood to divulge, please PM me.)

Not only is the bull cool, but I really love the tree-and-wreath design on the reverse.

I haven't gotten around to adding a nice Conder token to my box yet, but if I ever do, I want it to be like that.

That one is an eyepopper! >>



It's publicly available information.

It didn't break the bank, but these darned Conders are becoming too popular and pushing up the prices a LOT in the last 5 or so years.

lordmarcovan

Hey, that's not bad at all, IMHO.

I would've paid that for such a nice piece, hypothetically speaking.

I'm struck by how much of a wide margin your images excel above the ones in the auction.

That's bound to have made a huge difference. No doubt stuff like that is a potential source of joy for bidders and remorse for consignors.

Which isn't to suggest the Heritage images are bad at all. They're quite adequate, but certainly don't show the color and pizazz of that piece.

Congratulations.

JCMhouston

Very nice.

Zohar

Brandon - do you mint these at home? What a stunner.

You did well.

brg5658

<< <i>Hey, that's not bad at all, IMHO.

I would've paid that for such a nice piece, hypothetically speaking.

I'm struck by how much of a wide margin your images excel above the ones in the auction.

That's bound to have made a huge difference. No doubt stuff like that is a potential source of joy for bidders and remorse for consignors.

Which isn't to suggest the Heritage images are bad at all. They're quite adequate, but certainly don't show the color and pizazz of that piece.

Congratulations. >>



I'm quite happy with the inadequacies of Heritage images. I have learned to "interpret" them quite well in 6-7 years of bidding there. I think those of us who can "read between the lines" of the Heritage images (many on this forum included) have a bit of a "honey pot" for picking up items in some Heritage auctions. The named Heritage auctions are more difficult to scoop up deals from because there are a lot of bidders viewing pieces in hand. The CICF show as such usually demands higher prices...this token would have probably gone for less in a Weekly World auction.

TwoKopeiki

Nicely done!

asheland

Awesome example!

HTubbs

That's incredible, love the patina!

mudskippie

That's a keeper!