Coins
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Coins
21
Posts
16
Followers
Conder tokens, also known asĀ 18th-century provincial tokens, were a form of privately mintedĀ tokenĀ coinageĀ struck and used during the latter part of the 18th century and the early part of the 19th century (1790s-1805) inĀ England,Ā AngleseyĀ andĀ Wales,Ā Scotland, andĀ Ireland.
The driving force behind the need for token coinage was the shortage of small denomination coins for everyday transactions. However, the demand was fueled by other factors such as theĀ Industrial Revolution, population growth, and the preponderance of counterfeit circulating coins. Because the government made little effort to ameliorate this shortage, private business owners and merchants took matters into their own hands, and the first tokens of this type were issued in 1787 to pay workers at the Parys Mine Company. By 1795, millions of tokens of a few thousand varying designs had been struck and were in common use throughoutĀ Great Britain.
Collecting Conder tokens has been popular since shortly after they were first manufactured, resulting in the availability today of many high-grade examples for collectors. The demarcation of what is or is not considered a Conder token is somewhat unclear; however, most collectors consider Conder tokens to include those indexed originally byĀ James Conder or later by Dalton & Hamer.
Is this about coins? I donāt collect coins.
I will save for another day my take on the boredom of todayās collectibles dealers. I travel to quite a few different types of collectibles shows throughout each year and talk to both dealers and collectors at length. Boy, if you want to get into some heated talks, come with me.
In short, I have found a show like the National, one the largest sports card and memorabilia shows in the country, to be filled to the brim with sports cards that have been marketed and played out for decades. I think the dealers have become bored. Walking the convention floors seem more like an exchange these days. Afterall, all it takes is a checkbook to pick up several Michael Jordan 1986 Fleer rookie cards. There are 25,000 of them and more than 300 in PSA 10. And $500,000 to boot. Table after table, it seemed like just a reel of the same cards. However, to my eye, the sands began to shift a few short years ago. A few years ago, it was rare to see many non-sports cards at the show, and now non-sports are fully interlaced within the sports cards, and some dealers are strictly non-sports. It began slowly, but it is solid now. I have noticed a few dealers, exclusive non-sports, with high-grade cards, having their tables swamped the entire show with both spectators and buyers. Many buying their first non-sports.
It is the same story with coins, and along the same timeline.
Walk the FUN Coin Shows and you will see the same inventories over and over. Considering these shows are normally 1500 dealer tables, thatās a lot.
A few years ago, it would have been rare to find a civil war token, a Robbins Medal, a Conder token. If a dealer had any of these, they were relegated to the back of his table in a box. However, nowadays, dealers have really expanded. They still carry predominantly U.S. coinage, but World coins, ancient coins, tokens and medals, have gotten traction. Collectors are asking, what are those? And the clubs, the publications and the Internet have all the information available about them.
And now, back to Conder Tokens.
There is a difference between Conder tokens and just about any other coin. Think about any coin. They are pretty much the same. A bust portrait of a leader, a family crest, a country logo, an event. Nothing controversial.
The universe of about 5,000 Conder tokens contains many controversial pieces. Many.
This was the 1790s. Great Britain and France were in-the-midst of revolutionary atmospheres. Franceās king and his cabinet had their heads cut-off and put on spikes outside the government buildings for people to see. Guess who had a hand in the support of the French revolutionaries. Thomas Paine, a founding father of the American revolution. The governments of France and Britain did not care for him. He was a feared man. He wanted equal rights, land ownership, and freedom for all.
Although Great Britain wasnāt overthrown, the British government tried and jailed many revolutionaries, including Paine. I believe that Ben Franklin had, at one point, traveled to Great Britain to free him and bring him back to the U.S.
What these privately minted, and at times anonymously minted tokens displayed were the feelings of the people during the time. Free speech would land you in jail. So these clever little tokens would air many frustrations, while also providing a means of small change so commerce could operate smoothly.
5,000 tokens are too much for me to consider collecting. There are numerous topics that fit back into the boring category, like landscapes, city names, churches and other historic buildings. Iām not saying they are not nice, just not for me.
A subgroup collection of Political tokens and others of odd and different topics would number less than 200. Very doable.
The Kicker
1790ās copper coins and tokens from the U.S. in higher grades today can cost you in the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
While Conder tokens from the 1790ās can be found in mint state and spectacular conditions and normally range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. And the kicker you ask, is that the population for these gems is ridiculously low. Sometimes only 3 to 5 coins have been graded. Are you kidding me? What's the old saying, "like shooting fish in a barrel".
(NGC) Numismatic Guaranty Corp and (PCGS) Professional Coin Grading Service grade these, and I recommend that most collectors buy tokens that they have graded. The assigned grades are always debatable, but they are good at saving you from problem coins that have been cleaned heavily, environmentally degraded or played with to deceive. And guarantee that they are authentic. It takes the guess work out of the game so I can concentrate on the token. I donāt want to become a grading expert.
Here are a few Political Conder tokens to whet your appetite.
Ā
There are about 30 varieties of Thomas Paine tokens, with him and/or of him and two other revolutionaries, hanging from a gibbet. Legends usually read āThe End of Painā. Notice they dropped the āeā from the end of his name so as not to get in trouble. Another legend reads āThe Wrongs of Manā, referring to Paineās book āThe rights of Manā.
Another favorite variety are Dogs and Cats. The Dogs read āMuch Gratitude Brings Servitudeā, meaning that you will pay dearly for what you are given. The Cats read āI Among Slaves Enjoy my Freedomā, referring from the inability to train a cat. They are free and do what they want. There are many die-pairings of Dogs and Cats, but among the rarest and most favorite is this one which pair both on one token.
Then there are a several historic figures that are more than interesting, like Lady Godiva riding nude on horseback, Adam & Eve in the garden, several mythical figures, a bit of racism, and a world of animals.
Poll
Our first coin trivia question. Can any guess how much this 19th century U.S. coin sold for earlier this year?
Poll has ended
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11 votes
The rumor from this weekend that a new major player was getting into trading cards and other collectibles has been confirmed. Sports Card Investor broke the news that Walmart is jumping into our world in a big way.
What does everyone think? Good for the hobby? Will Walmart succeed?
https://x.com/sportscardinv/status/1807759304276971775?s=46
Create an account to discover more interesting stories about collectibles, and share your own with other collectors.
The post last week by @Razmin about duplicate serial number dollars floating around the US caught our attention, and @Javacards824 jumped in to create a great video going deeper on the story. Check it out here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C7hUQmXJKdh/
And the original post is here: https://www.onmantel.com/post/a1b04530-891f-4878-9add-0ae4b1b2c1ab?utm_id=javacards