Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals

Historical Medals, Sheffield Junior Chamber of Commerce, 1971, steel medals by the British Steel Corporation (2), both 58mm; Bicentenary of the Sheffield Assay Office, 1973, a silver medal, unsigned, 36mm; Eclipse [Magnetics], a uniface magnetic alloy medal, 39mm; The Relaunch of Napoleon’s [Casino], 2010, a uniface gilt medal, 38mm; together with two Sheffield United F.C. medalets [7]. Last two corroded, others extremely fine and better, third and fifth in cases of issue £30-£40

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Sheffield Tokens and Paranumismatica formed by Tim Hale.

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In 1773 Sheffield's silversmiths joined with those of Birmingham to petition Parliament for the establishment of assay offices in their respective cities. In spite of determined opposition by London smiths, an Act of Parliament was passed just one month after the original petition was presented, to allow both Birmingham and Sheffield the right to assay silver. The Sheffield Assay Office hallmarked its first piece on 20 September 1773. Lots were drawn to determine which marks the offices would use; Sheffield won and chose the crown, while Birmingham took the anchor. In 1795 an office was established on Fargate; it moved to Leopold street in 1880, then Portobello street in 1958 and Beulah road, Hillsborough, in 2008. Napoleons Casino and restaurant, Ecclesall road, opened in 1975 and relaunched in 2010, closed in 2018