BILL McKIVOR CTCC #3 PO BOX 46135 SEATTLE, WA 98146
(206) 244-8345 Let it ring------E-Mail
ANA Denver August 16-20 2006, table #765------bookmark www.thecoppercorner.com
SEE YOU THERE!! July 2006
THE COPPER CORNER
PRESENTS
List #45
The Dr. Richard Doty reference collection of Conder Tokens. .
Dr. Richard G. Doty is a name known well to collectors of Conder tokens. His articles on 18th Century British tokens, specifically those on the Soho mint and Mssr’s Boulton and Watt, the mint proprietors, have appeared with regularity in the CTCC Journal. He is the author of nine books on numismatics, the editor of American Numismatic Society books, mostly on copper tokens, and has published monographs on coins and tokens in many journals. His major work on tokens, “The Soho Mint and the Industrialization of Money”---a work that Dr Doty says took 15 years of his life---is the best volume written on the first steam powered presses and the people who owned and operated them. In its pages we get a look at everything that Boulton did, and coins and tokens as they were before, during, and after the Industrial Revolution. His collection is a mirror of his research into the depths of Birmingham, Soho, and the world of minting in the late 18th Century.
We also know Dr. Doty as the curator of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. He also served as the first elected president of the Conder Token Collectors club. I shall most often refer to him as “Dick”, for so I know him best. I also call him Sanchez Muldoon, but that is another matter and a bit of an inside joke.
I have called his collection a “reference collection”, a name I did not apply to it until I looked it over about five times. It dawned on me that what I was looking at were examples of many types of minting, and pieces from different times and places that all fit neatly into his book. In many cases he was looking for information, not gem proofs. In some cases he found gem proofs anyway, but he was happy with any piece that would help him understand the evolution of minting. As I perused it, I could often see WHY he bought a certain piece.
There are three main themes---Anglesey tokens ---Wilkinson tokens---and Irish pieces. The Anglesey and Wilkinson help tell the story of the beginning of the token series, on to Birmingham, and to steam powered presses. The Irish were just for fun, but there is a lovely run of them, many very hard to find.
The Anglesey section, nearly 250 tokens, were to be offered as a lot and not broken up—the wish of Dick, and after seeing the group, my wish as well. It would have been a shame to break it up—and it shall not be, as it sold to a Northwest collector. The offer came as a welcome surprise. The section shall stay together!!
If you know Dr Doty you also know that his mind is working overtime nearly all the time---I do not think I have ever spent an hour with him that some fact did not come tumbling out of him that had me—and any other listener—amazed. Dick knows more “Conder” lore than anyone, and he is our own personal “treasure”.
He is selling his collection to move on to other things, an inquiring mind often does this. He still loves the tokens, but “onward and upward”, as nothing in this world stands still, other research beckons and a good researcher moves on to the next love.
I am flattered indeed to be able to offer this collection for sale to you. All pieces will come in Dr. Doty’s envelope, with a note in pencil from me in some cases, and often with his note on a round ticket within. There is “something for everyone” here, all budgets, all tastes, and to have something from the Doty collection is nice indeed.
I have bought three for myself (so far only three)---and am overjoyed with them. Dick enjoyed forming the collection, I have enjoyed looking at and cataloging it, and there is something for you here too. Enjoy. Bill.
PAGE TWO
I asked Dr. Doty if he would say a few words about his collection, and he happily agreed—
Thus, in his own inimitable fashion------
Here is an amusing story from the early days of the Albanian Labour Party* oops, let's start over.
Now, then.
I bought my first two Conders in Portland, Oregon around 1963. I remember
that one of them was a Deptford piece. I've forgotten the identity of the
other. But they were both in mint state and cost, I think, about a dollar and a half apiece. And I looked at the two, then reflected how far three dollars would go towards two American coppers in the same condition from the same decade, did the math, and arrived at a Conclusion.
But I didn't pursue it for a number of years. I finally became a serious token collector because of two factors. One was being Welsh. And the other was running into Matthew Boulton.
Bloodwise, I am a mongrel - French, Sephardic, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Scottish, Irish, possibly Italian and definitely English - and Welsh. I tend to favor the Welsh portion of my inheritance, in part because we're so obscure as a people that no one has managed to create meaningful prejudice against us. When I discovered that Wales (which, until the coming of the Royal Mint some three decades ago, I would have categorized as one of the most numismatically inert spots on earth) had actually struck and circulated its own money in the 1780s and 1790s, had actually shown the way to the rest of the British Isles, I thought it might be worth a closer look.
It was.
Then Matthew Boulton came into the mix. I've always been interested in machinery, coining technology, and the like. When I ran across a British Midlander who'd had the vision to marry a steam engine to a coining press, and who'd performed the rite two hundred years ago - I thought he might be worth a closer look too.
He was.
I found that many of the features he and his Soho Miint would someday introduce on coins had already made their debut - on his tokens. The tokens got me more deeply into the life and work of Matthew Boulton. And Matthew Boulton returned the favor, leading me deeper and deeper into Conder tokens in general, and those of Soho and the other Birmingham coiners in particular.
I lived in Brum, off and on, for about a year. And I finally turned what I'd found there into a book.
I'm still in the Conder field, although I no longer actively collect. The collecting was based, in great part, on the research I was doing and the writing I hoped to do. And I've moved on, from the token as primary source to other objects of the same period. I'm working with magazines and newspapers of the 1780s and 1790s, getting an idea of what the attractive, varying "provincial coins" meant to the men and women who encountered them in trade, who blessed those responsible for their manufacture and circulation, who began setting aside the nicest specimens to swap, save, or give away as gifts.
With any kind of luck, I'll be at this new task for years...
Happy landings to all!
R:D
Two important notes------
------PHOTOS OF SOME OF THE TOKENS AVAILABLE ON LINE, CLICK ON “DOTY”------
---Pieces noted with ** are plate tokens from “The Soho Mint and the Industrialization of Money”------
PAGE THREE
THE DR. RICHARD G. DOTY COLLECTION OF CONDER TOKENS
Early orders appreciated, I shall be gone part of next week.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
AYLESBURY 7. 1796 Bust Wm III/Liberty cap, pole, flags. This is a token promoting the abolition of slavery. Usually very weak in the centers, this one is stronger than
usual though certainly not completely struck up. Legends sharp. Scarce, EF,
and quite nice. $165.
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
CAMBRIDGE 19b ND A Wheatsheaf/David Hood, &c. On a large heavy flan, this piece has
been mistaken for a penny, but is not. Choice full luster UNC, lists R, $155.
CHESHIRE
CHESTER 6 ND Three castles/Owl, Cypher. Some red, GVF $22.
CHESTER 6. ND As the last, with single punch counterstamp “I Berisford”, (the latter
a bit unclear). Counterstamp both sides. CTSP VF, host VG. $25.
MACCLESFIELD 7 ND Three castles/Lion, Cypher. Natural planchet lamination, VF+ $22.
MACCLESFIELD 7 ND As the last, tad porosityVF $18. Another, VF+ $22.
MACCLESFIELD 9. 1789 Beehive, Cypher/Female with mining tools. The #9 is extremely
elusive, (RARE) with only a few known. The present piece is noted by Dr.
Doty as a prototype Proof, and is the D&H plate token. $SOLD.
MACCLESFIELD** 14. 1789 Beehive, Cypher/Female. Brown AU, $65. (** denotes a plate token)
MACCLESFIELD 61c 1790 Bust Charles Roe/Female, mining tools. Counterfeit. Fine, $15.
MACCLESFIELD 72b. 1792 Beehive,Cypher/Female. Counterfeit. Wonderful die crack on the
reverse, looks like female is being strangled. VF+, $27. Pair of these---
MACCLESFIELD 76. 1792 Charles Roe/Vulcan at forge. (Warks). Odd reverse strike, F net $22.
MACCLESFIELD 76b 1792 As the last, very small thin flans---- Net F $15.
CORNWALL
COUNTY** 2 1791. Druid/Shield. Cornish Copper “Half an Ounce”. EF, nice $35.
PENRYN** 4 1794 Shield of arms/Bust, ribbons, &c. Very intricate design. This piece is a
proof, with wonderful “flash”, one spot on the obverse. Unc, $120.
CUMBERLAND
LAKE TOKEN 2 1796 Lake, Castle/Legend. Farthing. RARE. luster, some rub—EF $175.
DORSETSHIRE
POOLE 6. 1795 Hope leaning on an anchor/Arms of Poole. One of those rare pieces
a researcher would delight in, this is a fantastic double strike. The obverse is struck twice, with the two strikes being about 170 degrees apart, so there are two shields, two exergue lines and all else opposed. The reverse is NOT double struck, but has a large rounded “dent” where the token landed on top of a blank flan in the press, but certainly not “on center”. The reverse strike is fairly normal otherwise. This sort of error is very rare in the entire series.
Now the topper---red in the devices and basically UNC, with luster!! $350.
SHERBORNE 7 1793 Beehive, Cypher/Two headed Eagle. These are scarce, and we have
three here. GF, $25. EF, flaws in metal on reverse, $28. EF+ weak strike $55.
POOLE 10. 1795. Hope, Anchor/Arms. R&B, multiple plan cutter mks on token EF $20.
ESSEX
BRAINTREE 4. 1794 Building/Hope Standing. Not a proof, but looks it, PL UNC $110.
CHELMSFORD 5. 1794 Shire Hall/King and Constitution. Fully struck date (early state) EF $28.
COLCHESTER 9. 1794 Colchester Castle/Loom. Scarce. Die crack starting to form on the
obverse, one small edge ding. About VF, $45.
COLCHESTER 9. 1794, another, this a later state, crack from 1 to 7, cuds forming in castle.
This example GEF, very nice and very rare such, $Sold.
Essex, continued PAGE FOUR
COLCHESTER 10d 1794 Colchester Castle/loom. Castle now extends to edge of token. RR issue,
with a plain edge. GF, tough item $80.
HORNCHURCH 33. ND Crowned bust, scepter/Shield. Tad red, GVF $25.
HAMPSHIRE
BASINGSTOKE 1 1789 A barge/Wheelbarrow, &c. One Shilling. RARE nice, and this one is
mostly brown, tad of red and much luster. Canal token used to pay the workers
by John Pinkerton, the secretary of the Basingstoke Canal Co. UNC---$380.
EMSWORTH 35 1794 Earl Howe/Archor. Scarce, very nice. Choice brown UNC $125.
NEWPORT 46 1792 Bust Wilkins/Ancient Ship. GVF net, $35.
PETERSFIELD 48c 1793 Man on Horse/Stork. RR edge, this piece F+ $25.
PORTSMOUTH 54 1794 John Howard/Castle &c. Scarce type. Small clip, VF $25.
PORTSMOUTH 61 1797 Neptune, Jervis/Legend. “Pursued” miss spelled. GVF $28. Scarce.
PORTSMOUTH 64 1797. As the last, but Pursued corrected, and a scarce variety. F+ $18.
PORTSMOUTH 65. 1797 As the last. GVF $28. Another, AU obverse lacquered $28.
PORTSEA 79. 1796 St. George, Dragon/Ship, fish. VF/VF+ $32.
PORTSEA 79a. 1796 St George, Dragon/Ship, fish. Scarce variety, and an unbelievable
GEM UNC!!! Full luster, and not improvable. $245.
SOUTHAMPTON 84. 1790 Helmed bust left/Arms. Reports RR, only 24 struck. This a gem UNC
and as nice as they come. Beautiful piece, $365.
PORTSMOUTH** 89 1791 Helmed bust right/Arms. Bronzed Proof, minor spot, $65.
WEST COWES 94 1798. Bust of Fox/Arms of the town. Very scarce token that is rare in a grade
above Fine---this one GVF and nice. $75.
HERTFORDSHIRE `
STORTFORD ** 4. 1795 Scene of river and town, barges/Arms. AEF, nice $65. Scarce. Full luster UNC, on a bronzed flan, prooflike if not one, $185. **
LANCASHIRE
HALSALL 1 ND Arms and Supporters/Halsall D. This token was struck prior to the
Anglesey pieces, or so it is thought, and is reported in the Matthew Boulton papers a year earlier though no record of their striking actually exists. They usually come worn, the best one I had seen to date being a nice EF. This piece UNC, or if not, very close too it. Full strike on wings of supporters, and even a tiny hint of red. In all these years I have never seen a better one---$185.
LANCASTER 11 1791. John of Gaunt/Shield. GVF $22.
LANCASTER 41. 1794. John of Gaunt/Shield. AEF $28.
LANCASTER 58 1794 Bust Eccleston/Ship. Odd depressions at nose of Eccleston, GVF $20.
LANCASTER ** 58 1794 Bust Eccleston/Ship. Bronzed UNC, nice $85.
LIVERPOOL 79c 1791 Ship/Arms of Liverpool. RR, EF, $62. very nice---
LIVERPOOL 84 1791. Ship/Arms. Crude counterfeit. If you are wondering why these two