Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals

DEVON/LONDON, John Gidley, copper, iohn gidley of london chirvrgeon, rev. born · may · 21 · 1632 around castellated arms, edge plain, 25mm, 6.79g (cf. Storer 1218). Very fine and very rare £150-200

John Gidley (1632-1713), surgeon and freeman of the Barber-Surgeons Company, issued a 17th century token from Hatherleigh, Devon (BW. 174) in 1665. He retired to the nearby hamlet of Winkleigh but is presumed to have died in London as his burial is not recorded locally. Several of his relatives and descendants emigrated to North America and settled in Newport, RI, in the early 18th century