British Tokens, Tickets and Passes, Wiltshire Coins and Paranumismatica

LONDON, Covent Garden, Theatre Royal, Second Theatre, O.P. [Old Price] Riots, 1809, white metal, unsigned, bust of John Philip Kemble left attired as Shylock, with the ears of an ass, this is the jew which shakespeare drew, etc, rev. what d’ye want o[ld] p[rices] o[pen] b[oxes] & d[eference to] p[ublic] o[pinion] encircled by wreath, trumpet and rattle below, outer legends on raised rim both sides, 44mm, 26.96g (W 167). Very fine and very rare; set in usual brass surround, with loop for suspension £300-£400

Provenance: W.J. McKivor Collection.

Worn by the ‘Old Price’ rioters at the Theatre during the latter months of 1809. In the wake of the rebuilding of the theatre in 1808, the proprietor John Kemble saw fit to increase prices for the boxes and the pit. A riotous demand for the old pre-1808 prices to be restored ensued, only brought to an end several months later when Kemble agreed to reduce the price of a place in the pit to that which had been previously current