Market Watch

This market watch reviews ebay sales between March 16 and March 22. It was a busy week with regard to sales, but not as many bidders were in the gallery. Consequently, many nice tokens sold for low prices.
     There were 98 CTs sold this week with 76 of them selling for under $20. Just 22 CTs sold above this mark with 19 in the B range and one more in the BB range. In addition, two pieces sold at "best offer" with the initial asking prices set at $110 and $90 -- we can guess that these latter two sold in the BB or low A range.
     A series of 28 pieces from comtok sold on March 20 and 21 with all but two of them bringing C prices due to slow bidding. This reflects how unpredictable the CT marketplace can be, as just a few bidders can make all the difference. There were some attractive 18th century pieces in this group. I was one of the ones who missed out by my inattention.
     Another group of CTs were sold on March 22 by cobwrightfortishe. He always has great CTs and is one of my favorite sellers. This series was composed of 18 pieces from the 19th century (but for one CT dated 1907). Bidding was mild for these later pieces that represented a nearly complete run from KL(44)-23 to 43. This was an opportunity to fill in gaps for  collectors looking to complete sets by piece, parish or shire. Most went for C money.
     All told, this week's sales offered many opportunities to jump into the CT collecting hobby.  There were many CTs to choose from at bargain prices.

St. Andrews is the oldest Presbyterian congregation in
Auckland, dating back to May of 1847. The church was
completed in April of 1850 and the name of St. Andrews
was adopted in 1860. Burzinski lists three CTs from this
region; this is the only one from the city of this name.

     New Zealand CTs led the way toward strong prices this week. The highest priced token was listed at a BIN price of $110 but a lower offer was accepted. This piece was a cut-rectangle from St. Andrews in Auckland (BZ589). It was silvery with light toning -- essentially unused or new old stock as some like to say.
     Another NZ CT was offered at $90 by the same seller with a best offer accepted. This one was an oval from Green Island Church in Otago (BZ3001). By the way, the parish is not on Green Island itself, but rather is located inland on the big South Island of NZ.
     Burzinski lists 33 CTs from NZ. Two of them are stock tokens. The remaining CTs come from 26 different churches. Only two churches used more than one token. Consequently, the NZ series is not very large.
     In the Scottish series, a Cawder round, dated 1791, with the S/Love/Love reverse brought active bidding that pushed the hammer price just beyond the BB mark at $51. Seven bidders cast 12 bids with four of them competing until the end. This is a popular piece from the small shire of Nairn (BK148). The reverse is often pictured in articles about CTs -- note that I have one pictured in the upper R corner my blog pages. Burzinski identified only 20 CTs as coming from Nairn.
     Also of note, a modern -- quite modern -- heart CT from Dayton PA sold for $35 with three bidders vying for it. This piece was dated 1969.