17th October 2024.

 

Next club meeting Monday 4th November 2024.

Subject – Mauritius – a History in Banknotes; a talk by Alastair Mackay

 

Meetings are held at the Abbey Baptist Church, Abbey Square, commencing at 7.00 p.m.

 

Notices

 

Member Subscriptions renewals are overdue. If you haven’t already done so, please renew at the next meeting, and the 2024-2025 membership cards can also be collected then.

 

October Meeting

 

Tim Millet of Historic Medals gave a highly entertaining talk entitled Tokens of Love, Loss and Disrespect

 

At the commencement of his talk Tim displayed two books; one was authored by him and he was a contributor to the second …but more on these publications later.

 

Tim began a retrospect of how his interest in tokens commenced during the first years of his employment in Baldwins. He related how he was tasked with sifting through tins of oddments that were not really considered worthy of further examination by the long-established numismatists in the company, but useful for an untried newcomer’s abilities to be assessed. (Tim suggested that he may have been the only teenager ever employed by the company).

 

AH Baldwin & Mitchells had been established in 1872, and Tim was a scion of the Mitchell side of the partnership. The company could be quite stuffy, and he related a story how a client had been offended by the manner his telephone call to Tim had been handled by another member of staff. When the complaint was escalated to a higher authority the customer was appeased by receiving one of the highly sought after Client Numbers at Baldwins.

 

It was while as a junior at Baldwins sifting through the “numismatic sweepings” that were assigned to him, Tim’s interest was piqued by a particular token he found, and from then on, he was hooked on tokens.

 

Some “numismatic sweepings”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As an aside at this point, Tim showed a slide of the front page of the 4th February 1936 edition of The Bazaar Exchange & Mart. On this front page the paper’s headline was Medallions Made by Gaol-birds with an article on Love and Prison Tokens. So, some 88 years ago there was interest shown in these items.

 

As an example of a true love token Tim showed the club this example.

 

The obverse is full of amatory symbols:

The urn that bears two engraved, pierced and conjoined hearts; the plinth that has a pair of facing doves supporting a heart. In the background is a hive producing honey sweetness, and below left of the woman is a representation of water and behind her is an anchor. These last two symbols suggest that her sweetheart is a sailor. The legend is Sweet is the Union of true Hearted Love.

 

The reverse is more straightforward in its message: Of all your Sex, I have respects my Dear for none BUT YOU. I cannot tell you the affects of Love I bear for You.

 

 

An example of a marriage token, dated 1789 and a convict love token. Note the pin engraving. Many tokens were created from flans of filed down cartwheel pennies

 

 

 

Right: Another convict love token, with an optimistic message engraved on it.

 

 

Tokens of Disrespect

These often rely on defacement of circulating coinage.

 

The example to the right is commenting on King George IV hedonistic lifestyle with the legend The Patron of Vice and Frivolity

The reverse shows Britannia surrounded by the legend Tax Eaten Country.

 

The execution of the banker Henry Fauntleroy (1784 -1824) was celebrated by the public and the token to the right shows a typical token of what is believed to be one of a great many of this pattern.

Henry Fauntleroy appropriated £1/4 m from trust funds by forging trustee signatures and was sentenced under the 18th century’s “Bloody Code”. The establishment was horrified that one of their own, a banker no less, could be hanged and made great efforts to have the sentence commuted. However, the public was outraged that such efforts were made to save an establishment figure while the ordinary citizen would not have received such mercy. The powers that be caved in to public demand and Fauntleroy’s execution was carried out at

 

Newgate in 1824. The death sentence for forgery was abolished by Acts of 1832 and 1837.

 

 

A later case of disrespect was that of Micheil Gibbs, a fishmonger and of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers who was Lord Mayor of London 1844/45, and who seems to have been universally unpopular. The tokens below are an indication of just how unloved he was – to the extent of pelting him with rotten eggs (on the occasion of a planned major banquet) and with Britannia’s (smoking a pipe) reverse showing the nations contempt.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                   




 

Here is the ivory handle gavel used by Gibbs while chair of the Poor Law Commissioners, and it is inscribed on one face The Right Hon Michael Gibbs Lord Mayor Chairman.

 

 

 

Publications:

Convict Love Tokens – the leaden hearts that the convicts left behind by Michele Field and Timothy Millet. Available from Tim Millet Ltd @ £35. Several copies were sold at the club meeting.

 

Tokens of Love Loss and Disrespect 1700-1850 edited by Sarah Lloyd, with 17 expert contributors of whom Tim Millett was one. Priced at £45. Unfortunately, Tim brought only two copies to the club meeting as the stock is held currently in a warehouse that has just gone into administration, and is thus temporarily impounded. Tim sold both of the copies he brought to the meeting.

 

Questions:

Tim was asked whether there were any manufactories of tokens. He thought not, but did suggest locally prepared tokens may have been created and names added later, possibly at ports such as Gosport, and at fairs.

He mentioned a token he sold in Canberra that had the legend If you wait for my safe return, you will wait to the day of doom! Tim also mentioned a case of a convict that had several love tokens made each with a different sweetheart’s name.

In answer to a question of whether it was illegal to deface coins, he thought it probably was but was unsure under what legislation. Tim also noted that cartwheel pennies were a popular base for tokens as they were large and of easily worked copper.

Tim also said that many of the silver designs were innovative and of exceptional standard of engraving.

 

Tim’s talk was heartily applauded and appreciated by the club.

 

Future Events.

Past Events

Ten years ago in 2014, Mick Martin spoke on the History of Bank of England Tokens

Twenty years ago in 2004, Alastair Mackay gave a talk on “The Gods”

 

Club Secretary.