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Keystone Auction 8

Lot nuber 197

CANADA, Blacksmith tokens – regal types. CU Token (27mm, 7.75 g, 6h). Struck 1820s-1830s.


Keystone Auction 8
Lot: 197.
 Estimated: $ 100

Canadian Blacksmith & Related Tokens from the RH Collection, Copper

Sold For $ 190. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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CANADA, Blacksmith tokens – regal types. CU Token (27mm, 7.75 g, 6h). Struck 1820s-1830s. Laureate and cuirassed bust of George III left / Britannia seated right on globe, holding olive branch and scepter; Union shield to left. Wood, Blacksmith 1; Charlton BL-1. Brown surfaces, a few light marks. Fine.

From the RH Collection, purchased from Gordon Nichols.

No coinage is more complex and challenging for the dedicated copper collector than the Canadian Blacksmith tokens. The series takes its name from a note provided by legendary Canadian numismatic scholar R.W. McLachlan, who, in the first publication describing the tokens, noted that, “Previous to 1837, when the lack of specie caused copper change to be accepted in bulk, there lived in Montreal a blacksmith of dissipated habits. He prepared a die for himself, and when he wished to have a "good time " he struck two or three dollars in these coppers, and thereby supplied himself with sufficient change with which to gratify his wishes.” (Canadian Numismatics. Montreal, 1886, p. 127) While this tale is unlikely to be true, and is today generally held to be fanciful at best, the appellation ‘blacksmith token’ nevertheless stuck.

General studies on the blacksmith tokens are limited. The first detailed die study was published by William Wood (“The Canadian Blacksmith Coppers,” in The Numismatist June 1910) and remains the standard. Numerous varieties are described in The Charlton Standard Catalog of Canadian Colonial Tokens (10th ed. C. Chapados-Girard, editor. Toronto 2020), along with other Canadian tokens. Additionally, three major collections have been sold at public auction: the Warren Baker Collection (Bowers & Merena, 26 March 1987), the Doug Robins Collection (Part I, Heritage 3064, 20 April 2018; Part II, Heritage 61158, 5 July 2020), and the Partrick Collection (Heritage 61206, 18 April 2021). These tokens have an active and vibrant collecting community both in Canada and the United States.

The blacksmith token series consists of a wide variety of crude imitations of various copper coins current in Canada in the early 19th century, usually with a weight between about 3 and 7 grams. The earliest types are believed to have been struck at some point in the 1820s and copy the design of British and Irish copper halfpennies of George III. Unlike some other imitative series, however, these copies are of the coins in the condition they were found in the marketplace; heavily worn. Minimal details were engraved onto the original dies and even a mint state example would look as if it were worn nearly slick.

A second group copies the “Ships, Colonies & Commerce” tokens, first struck in 1829. Distinguished by their low weight and crude strike, the dies can be distinguished by the ensign on the rear of the frigate drooping nearly to the deck. Several weights and flan thicknesses are known, and they are also found muled with portraits of George III or Irish-inspired harps. Yet another group copies various Canadian-issued tokens, included the “Tiffin” tokens and some types from Nova Scotia.

The last major group of blacksmith tokens is arguably the most enigmatic. Traditionally believed to have been made by Daniel and Benjamin True, they include copies of the usual George III-types, but also feature dies with a heraldic eagle or the name of a “Riseing Sun Tavern.” Beyond these unique designs, some tokens in this series reuse token dies from the “Hard Times “ tokens of the United States, particularly those for the Troy, New York merchants N. Starbuck & Son and J.C. Peck.

The mints that struck these tokens are almost entirely unknown. The “Daniel and Benjamin True” group may have been struck partially in upstate New York, or in Lower Canada. The “Ships, Colonies & Commerce” types are generally held to originate in Lower Canada, while those copying Nova Scotia types likely were struck there. Overall, the consistency of metal content, weights, and die axis suggest that blacksmith tokens were not struck by individuals, but by dedicated factories with skilled metalworkers.

As mentioned, grading this series is remarkably difficult, and even professional grading companies will encapsulate these tokens simply as “Genuine.” The cataloger of the Baker Collection noted: “The art of grading blacksmiths comes only with much experience, and must be based on an educated guess in terms of the detail that was originally in the die as well as the overall surface condition.” CNG recognizes that grading is often a subjective exercise and nowhere is that more true than with blacksmith tokens. To that end, while we have fastidiously described any flaws evident on the tokens in this section, we have generally given the grade simply as “Fine,” even though it may technically be considered much higher. We encourage bidders to view these coins in hand at the summer ANA show, where they will be available for limiting viewing.

Closing Date and Time: 23 August 2022 at 11:05:20 ET.



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