Market Watch

2015 started out with a bang. The marketplace is Hot!
     Many CTs traded hands in January: 754 tokens were sold, plus a lot of 138 tokens from an old church hoard. These figures compare strongly with the combined total of 500+ CTs sold for the last two months of 2014.

A communion token?

     Of note, the ebay seller scotscalder reported that he was selling off a large collection of 522 CTs. The sales started straight-away on Jan 1st and continued off and on all month -- about 200 tokens sold thus far. Another major seller was richardigr, also a scottish dealer, who sold half, or more, as many.
     Most of the CTs sold for under $20 in the C range -- a whopping 596 tokens! Moving up in price, there were 145 CTs to be had under $50 in the B range. Only 13 CTs were hammered down above this: nine in the BB range, three in the A range, and only one soaring above $100 in AA territory. As mentioned in this blog many times before, there are many good deals to be had in this series. A nice collection from all over Scotland can be built for little money.
     Some of the bargains available for low prices included a CT from Truro, Nova Scotia (NS304), that sold for a  meager $38 on Jan 19th. This is the first CT made in Canada and only the second one reported in the blog. Another interesting token was an unidentified lead round from Boxtel -- only four bidders took the risk with the winner spending just $20. Is this a CT? Let us know if you have an answer. There is a town of Boxtel in the Netherlands -- a Dutch piece?

Regimental CT from Edinburgh.

     The top four pieces included two Scottish and two Irish pieces. The first one was perhaps the most interesting of the lot: a regimental CT from Edinburgh (72nd Regiment). This round token (BZ6200, KL52-69) attracted four bidders with two of them battling it out, casting six bids overall. The piece was hammered down at $75 -- a reasonable price for a token that is rarely seen on the market. This particular one appeared new with some with dull gray toning and a few scratches.
     Next up we have a stock token design: a cut rectangle from Saltcoats Gaelic FC, dated 1843 (BZ6147, KL44-640). This is a collector's token, as the token design type is common.  Tokens from Gaelic churches are not so common, however. Two bidders were toying with this one when a third bidder entered the room at the very last instant to win it at $77.
     The other A range token was an Irish one from Belfast PC, County Antrim. It was a simple rectangle -- as are many Irish pieces -- with just a 2/CC on the obverse (BZ1365, M256D-E?). Six bids were cast by four bidders to produce $87 at the hammer.
     Finally, the only CT to reach the highest AA designation sold for a heathy sum of $150. It was another rectangle from Ballycopeland PC in Millisle, County Down (BZ763, M30A). This one attracted five bidders with the sixth bid winning the prize.
     Did I mention a church hoard? Yes, I did. There were 138 pieces from Mearns Parish in Renfrewshire (BZ4706) that were offered. The cut rectangles looked new in the pictures; Tables I through IV were represented. The bids started slowly -- folks were probably thinking: Do I need all of these? -- but then it took off with two bidders competing in the last hours. The lot sold for $436 -- about $3 per token! Here is the link: CT hoard of 138 tokens. Hopefully, there is a good story behind these CTs. We would all like to hear it, so if you know something, shout it out!