THE COLLECTION OF BRITISH TOKENS FORMED BY JOHN ROSE IS 100% SOLD AT DIX NOONAN WEBB - Shropshire token sells for 20 times its estimate -

A probably unique octagonal 17th Century Token from Ludlow, Shropshire sold for £2,108 – 20 times its estimate – at International coins, medals, banknotes and jewellery specialists Dix Noonan Webb on Tuesday, November 17, 2020. Expected to fetch £100-200, it was by Jeremiah Bright and was believed to be unpublished [lot 196].  

As Peter Preston-Morley, Head of Coin Department, Dix Noonan Webb, explains: “Tokens were a currency substitute issued by private individuals, merchants and organisations when governments were not, for various reasons, issuing small change. They are mostly copper, although during the Napoleonic wars silver tokens were also made and circulated.” 

He went on to say: “Shropshire material is always very keenly sought after, so it was no surprise that this probably unique token sold very well and was bought by UK private collector.”

The token was one of almost 500 lots of British Tokens spanning 300 years and covering all corners of the UK from the Collection of John Rose which was 100% sold and fetched £146,556 (including buyers premium). It attracted buyers from the UK, North America and Australia.

The two highest prices of the sale were for 18th Century Tokens from London and Surrey. The very rare and extremely fine silver London Proof halfpenny from Cornhill, dated from 1795, and had once been in the prestigious Cokayne Collection. It depicted a Bluecoat boy preparing to draw from a lottery wheel and sold for £2,480 against an estimate of £600-800. Due to its rarity and quality, it attracted a lot of interest and was subsequently bought by a US private collector [lot 305].

Also selling for £2,480 was a Prattent’s mule Penny from Lambeth (Surrey) which showed a man seated on ground gnawing a bone. This extremely fine example, which was bought by a UK private collector, had considerable original colour and had been expected to fetch £800-1,000 [lot 345].

PRICE INCLUDED 24% BUYERS PREMIUM

FORTHCOMING SALES AT DNW
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24 – JEWELLERY, WATCHES, ANTIQUTIES & OBJECTS OF VERTU
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1 & 2 – COINS, TOKENS AND HISTORICAL MEDALS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3 - ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS AND MILITARIA

Free online bidding is available is www.dnw.co.uk
For more information, please call 020 7016 1700
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
Dix Noonan Webb – a brief history
In 1991, its first year of trading, the company held three medal auctions and sold 1,200 lots for a total hammer price of £553,000. Two years later it opened a coin department which also auctions commemorative medals and tokens and in 2015 DNW added jewellery to its sales calendar. In 2018, it set up a standalone banknotes department and expanded into premises next door. In the same year, DNW achieved a total hammer price of £11,676,580 and the total number of lots across all departments was 20,273. To date the company has sold in excess of 300,000 lots totalling £155 million.

For further press information and images please contact:
Rachel Aked - Tel: 07790732448/ Email: Rachel@rachelaked.co.uk
November 2020