Coins, Tokens, Historical Medals, Cabinets & Books

Metropolitan Middlesex, Strand Bridge, Will Brunsley, Halfpenny, at lillys hovse, 3.28g/12h (N 8994, this piece; BW. 3021). Very fine and very rare; one of the classic tokens in the entire London series £600-800

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, 17th Century Tokens from the Collection of Quentin Archer.

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Collection

Provenance: H.W. Taffs Collection, Glendining Auction, 21-3 November 1956, lot 867 (part); R.A. Nott Collection; Norweb Collection, Spink Auction 212, 28-9 March 2012, lot 694.

William Lilly (1602-81), astrologer, lived at the corner house in the Strand by Strand Bridge from 1620 to 1665 when, with the coming of the Great Plague, he removed to Hersham, Surrey. The style of Brunsley’s token suggests that it was issued within a short time of him taking over the property