There was only half as many auctions on ebay, as 49% of all sales were at fixed-prices. As before, half of these BIN sales went at BO prices, so do not be shy about asking for a better deal.
Of note, for those of you who are keeping up with the price-points, I use the original asking price for the data; therefore, the prices that are tallied are somewhat higher than they actually were. Still, this shows how inexpensive most CTs are to collect.
This might change over time, as more books are written, bringing others into the fold. But certainly, CT collecting is the domain of the true collector who seeks out interesting items for the pure enjoyment of the hunt and the insights that research provides.
Maybe one of our readers is working on a book right this moment -- I hope so, as I would enjoy reading it. Writing a coin or token book is fun, and it is certainly a "bucket-list" item that makes collecting all that more rewarding.
Of the 145 pieces that sold this past month, eighty-eight (or 60%) of them sold below $20 in the C range. Some nice ones were in the mix, so be on the lookout next time around. In the B range, we had 55 CTs trading somewhere between $20 and $50 -- many of these CTs were sold at BIN prices with maybe a quarter actually going for less than $20 at BO. These figures only left two CTs in the upper ranges: one was bid to $57, and the other was sold at a BIN price of $105. The latter is big money for a CT, so we will take a closer look at that one.
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| Here is an example of the Kingston CT. Note large letters with N close to R. This is a "rare" piece not seen on this blog before. |
The Kingston oval was special for another reason. It appears to be the rare "large letters" variety (please correct me if I am wrong on this). The Charlton guide lists the "small letters" piece at $60 in extra-fine, but the "large letters" variety is simply listed as "rare." The guidebook goes on to say that the latter piece was produced in 1867 during the pastorate of Rev. William Maxwell Inglis (1863-1870). Consequently, it is a completely different CT from the "small" variety that was used in 1841 (per Charlton).
Now you might be thinking, wait a minute, the piece is dated 1823. This is because the date reflects the first group of tokens produced for this church. The first tokens were rectangular with scalloped corners; the lettering is in an upright orientation. I can tell you that not many Canadian CTs had scalloped corners, and those that did, came from the same general region.
On balance, this sale was a nice buy for the specialist; where else can you find one of these?
The St. Andrews church is profiled here: St. Andrews Church. There is concise history provided that describes the old stone church built about 1822 and the new church that replaced it when the old church burned in April of 1888. This is one of the great aspects (in my opinion) about CTs -- namely, there are many historical resources out there to discover that can enliven the pieces.
