Market Watch

This market watch reviews ebay sales between January 12 and January 18. It was a slow week with only 14 sales reported (three of them BINs).
     Nine pieces sold for less than $20 with four more in the B range (over $20 and less than $50). One piece stood out from the rest, crossing the block for $53. There are many listings on ebay at the moment, but most of the auctions are coming up in a few days (or ended before last Sunday) -- so, this past week was but a pause in the marketplace.
     As note above, the only CT to bring BB money was a round one from Carriden parish in West Lothians. It was incorrectly attributed (but with a ?) in the original listing, but no matter, the piece was attractive and dated 1706. Early pieces always bring out the crowds -- incidentally, there are about 17 first decade eighteenth century CTs listed for Lothians (you could almost put a date set together for this decade but for 1703).
     Six bidders stood in the cold, raising their paddles to enter 10 bids; but alas, a new bidder emerged from the crowd and grabbed it at the last minute for $53.
     Carriden parish only issued two CTs: this one and another cut rectangle in 1825. The earliest church was consecrated in 1243; it was demolished and another was built (probably at the time of the reformation). This one was also demolished but part of the foundation remains near Carriden House, a 16th century tower house that is a landmark in the region. The third(?) church was built in 1766; it still stands as a ruin. This token comes from the second church. Burzinski lists the minister as Rev. John Todd 1704-1720. The C x C on the obverse is likely to stand for Carriden Church.  Here is the link: Carriden CT dated 1706.

  

More Communion Tokens from the Ground

There is a website that profiles metal detector finds in the UK that includes communion tokens.
     And to start things off, we have a new CT to ponder. This one is from Dunnichen, dated 1691. It is a small square piece measuring 16mm with a diagonal cut on one corner and a broken edge at the opposite corner. The obverse legend along the edges reads: DVN/ICH/IN with the date: 1691 at the bottom. A five-point star is in the center. The reverse reads: M/HL(?).
     This CT is not listed in Brook, K&L, or Burzinski.

Unlisted CT from the small village
of Dunnichen in Angus.

     Not listed! That is correct.
     As such, it is one of a kind until someone comes forth with another. Unique or two/three-of-a-kind CTs are out there just waiting to be discovered. Sometimes they are hiding in plain view. Few folks know they are rare until two collectors discover it missing from their sets.
     Such pieces show up in the marketplace, but by that time, their singular status is known (as the seller has searched unsuccessfully for an attribution). For example, an unlisted roundish piece from Panbride (in Angus) sold on ebay last June -- it also appeared to be a dug piece.
     More examples of previously unattributed pieces can be found in Burzinski's listings, as some CTs are only known from other collections (notably the Norweb and Macmillan collections); hence, they were missed by previous catalogers. This begs the question: Did Burzinski miss any others? I would think so, as there are collections out there that he undoubtedly did not have access to. And, of course, we have new discoveries like the one described above in this posting.
     Consequently, dug CTs offer a front-seat view of what is being discovered and added to the list of known tokens. Here is the link to the site: Dunnichen CT from UKDFD site.
     This website is run by five metal detectorists. The acronym stands for UK Detector Finds Database. Just type UKDFD in your search engine to find it. The homepage describes the mission as follows:

The UKDFD is an initiative by members of the metal-detecting community to promote good practice within the hobby. It is an easy-to-use, friendly and supportive online facility for detectorists to record their finds and ensure that the information is preserved for future generations.

     In perusing the website, I found 24 CT listings with more than one unlisted CT described.  Also, a few CT friends like a Clackmannan heart were represented. There are other relics pictured and described too.

Dug Abdie Communion Token Hoard (Part 2)

Here are two CTs from the hoard. Surprisingly,
they are in nice condition but for some
sandy pitting and white salts on the reverse.
The spelling of Abdie is interesting: Y for an I.

Relics that come directly to us are particularly alluring.
     Fingertips tingle in anticipation of touching the past. We can never go there, but we can touch a piece of the action that happened there.
     One of my favorite material culture writers is Susan Pearce from Leicester, UK. She has used the phrase -- the real thing -- to characterize relics. Relics are the real thing. Everything else changes over time but relics do not. Even, our interpretations waver. But the physical object -- the relic -- is what it is.
     It is the real thing.
     The relic is as close to history as we will ever get. And frankly, history, as we know it, is nothing more than a surge of brain energy that is experienced in the here-and-now.
     We ascribe meaning to the relic: that is to say, we interpret it. According to Pearce, it is a signpost from the past, but also a symbol of whatever story we are weaving about the past. The signposts are mute, as we do all the talking.
     As collectors, we are meaning-makers. Instead of a diary full of words, we are writing our collecting histories one piece at a time. And our goal (at some level) is to represent the past as we imagine it.
     Twenty-two communion tokens dug from the shadows of a ruined stone church have all the mojo that you could hope for in a relic. These pieces are ripe for story-telling. They are signs and symbols.
     Our collecting protocol often demands that we strive to upgrade our pieces. Get the best one you can -- this is the creed. But relics that are fresh, that come directly from a hidden tin in the rectory or from the earth where they were buried, these are the objects that fascinate the most. Unadulterated by a lineage of collectors, this is as good as it gets. It does not matter that they are used up.
     Let's take a look.

The evocative ruin at Abdie.
Wikipedia (from James Allen)

     Two explorers with metal detectors were looking for relics within a stone-throw of the old Abdie ruin. The earth was rich with the footprints of history. And, relics were found. CTs that were last touched by someone long gone but who lived the experiences we wish to know about.
     We know the story. The old Kirk was abandoned in 1827. Some of the building materials, such as the roof, were auctioned off. The old bell, recast in 1671, was removed to the new church. The tokens were left behind, together in a group. We can imagine that they were left purposefully. Yet, the relics are mute on this. This is the mystery that we crave.
     All we can do (and should do) is make-up stories about them.
     The group suggests that only one kind of token was kept. No other tokens, either older CTs or those from other parishes, were part of the hoard. The number was small, prompting us to wonder if these were extras. Maybe they were the ones taken back from would-be communicants who were subsequently banned from the table. Perhaps, one elder emptied (or spilt) his tray on the ground after the service.

The hoard of 22 Abdie CTs

     In any case, we can add this evidence to those reported by others involving CT hoards. We also know that similar hoards were stored in a safe (as at Cruden) or stashed away in a tin and almost lost (as at Balquidder).
     Of course, we see many large assemblages of CTs in the marketplace, so I am sure that church hoards are not rare -- particularly among the later pieces that were mass-produced. But finding old ones in the ground, now that is quite a story!
     I want to thank my friend from Scotland for sending me this pair of tokens. I have many nice ones, but these are the ones will always be taken out and passed around for all to see. And yes, I will make up stories about them.

Market Watch

This Market Watch reviews ebay auctions & sales for January 5 through January 11. It appears that most of the vendors returned from vacation and pulled back the curtains on their stalls, as it was busy week with 111 sales (two of them including lots of three and seven tokens each).
     The week started with a bang. On Sunday, history in coins offered a heart from Airth, in Stirling. This is a rare piece, and it brought out the serious bidders. A few hours later, cobwrightfortishe offered a nice grouping of 16 pieces that had bidders bumping shoulders to get into the action. Both of these dealers are highly recommended by me. As the week progressed, a few mid- to late-week offerings pushed the number of sales higher with the block crowded on Saturday with auctions by tavytavy and jamesdicksonbooks -- also recommended.
     The tally: 73 tokens sold in the C range (including a lot of seven) whereas another 28 tokens brought B money and seven more sold in the BB range. There were a couple of A (over $75) and one AA (over &100) CTs that crossed the block.
     The star of the show, or should I say, the heartthrob of the show, was the selling of a rare Airth CT (B311) for $128. This is big CT money, but compared with rare tokens in any other specialty, it was cheap -- a deal! Only four bids were cast -- all on the last day -- with three bidders competing.

This is a primitive piece indeed!
How many are available?
Not many.

     Airth hearts come in two varieties (probably produced at the same time for a single communion service); there are no other hearts available from this parish. Both varieties are undated with rudely etched letters: AK. The lettering is different on each variety. This CT is a small (14x12mm), simple piece and likely to be early, as half of all Scottish hearts date before 1750 with none made after 1792 (unless you count Skye's commemorative piece of 1900).
     Hey, I just remembered that some time back I promised to post an exploration into the heart of the matter. This would be a good topic for February (with Valentines Day and all). In the meantime, here is a teaser: Can you name the eleven Scottish shires that have a heart? And did you know that only 5 hearts sold on ebay in 2013 (and one of those was from England) -- not many to be had.
     Also sold by history in coins was an Irish CT from Limavady in Londonderry (B5285). This oval piece only attracted one bid at the start price of $79. It was in interesting piece with a decorative edge on one side giving it a platter-look; the letters N LY were centered in low relief. A single letter T was on the reverse; it was formed from a curious assemblage of blocks -- check the link to see what I mean: Limavady CT from Ireland.
     A BIN sale produced a high price for a rectangle dated 1797 from Cromarty in Inverness (B1676). This was top dollar, as some others have sold in the BB range; this one appeared to be in VF condition. There are several varieties of this piece that differ in size and placement of the letters and numbers. It is an interesting CT for its script style that nearly runs off the borderless flan. Here is the link: Cromarty CT.
     Another CT at the top end of the bidding was a small round piece from Halkirk in Caithness (BK505). This one was alluring for its slightly out-of-roundness and for the bold, handcrafted, and somewhat goal-post styled H centered in bold relief. Four bidders vied for it, casting eight bids, to produce a hammer price of $74. Here is the link: Halkirk CT.
     Curiously, the trio of round CTs from London Crown Court were offered (again!) by the same dealer that sold them on December 3. They were profiled in the MW with a hammer price of $251 for all three (a silver CT plus two of white metal). In any case, the lot attracted 17 bids the second time around with the underbidder in the previous auction taking home the prize at $202 (or about $67 a piece). See the MW from December 8 for more info on these CTs.
     I would be remiss not to mention all the good deals in the C to BB ranges this week. Here are some examples. First, bidders had two chances to get an attractive 1811 square from Largs in Ayr (a tidy piece with Glasgow-square styling mixed with the sharp teeth of Ayr) -- both went for under $20. Second, two small rectangles from Fife, one from Crich and the other from Cupar (dated 1706 and 1772 respectively) provided bidders with a chance to get early and late specimens of this popular regional type (characterized by wee size with bold borders and crisp lettering -- same maker?) for under $40. Third, a well-worn pentagon-shaped CT from Wigtown sold at a BIN price of $58 -- there are only three pentagons in the Scottish series (the shires of Angus and Banff claim the other two).
     All in all, a good trading week in all price ranges at the marketplace.

Church Hoard of Communion Tokens Found

Since childhood, many of us have fantasized about discovering buried treasure.
     Of course one's definition of "treasure" depends on what you collect or are interested in (except for maybe gold -- we all would like more of that).
     If you collect Roman coins then your dream find could be an urn full of silver denarii spilling out at the edge of a garden plot. And for Spanish Colonial buffs, it could be a chest of Peruvian silver washed ashore after a hurricane. For CT collectors, how about 22 leaden pieces from the eighteenth century found in a grassy field shadowed by a ruined stone church?

The old Kirk at Abdie

     Well, this is true story. And we shall explore it forthwith.
     But first, some background. Brook mentioned in 1907 that: "Occasionally, probably because of their sacred associations, the old tokens were buried in the earth, or under the pulpit as at Kilchrenan, Argyllshire, and other churches." As such, he alludes to an example of the practice wherein old tokens were buried in the churchyard (or under the pulpit).
     We also know that churches kept old batches of tokens, such as those found at Balquidder and Cruden. Both of these hoards contained old and not so old tokens -- in fact, the Cruden hoard (found in a safe located in the rectory) had four different types spanning the history of the church. This latter church hoard contained CTs dated 1737, 1800, and 1844!
     Certainly many old tokens were melted to provide lead for the new ones. It was quite common for a new minister to order up a new batch of CTs. Hence, many old pieces were lost to the crucible. Indeed, the Reverend Whitelaw, writing in 1911, bemoaned the lost of large accumulations of tokens in this way. Gone forever.
     Not surprising, we often hear about isolated finds: a token dug from the ground in a backyard, and another one found in a cigar box of a long deceased uncle. Metal detectorists routinely find a diversity of pieces in vacant lots throughout the UK, just as they do here in the Old Dominion. In fact, where I live, hunting for Civil War relics is a popular amusement. Yes, the earth is littered with bits of our history!
     So our story begins at the old parish Kirk in Abdie, Fife -- also known as St. Magridin's Church. Now in ruins, this imposing stone edifice was built in the 13th century with a large aisle added to the north side in the 17th century. By 1824, it was determined that many expensive repairs were needed -- too many. Consequently, the church was last used on 11 November 1827. Some restoration of the ruin was made in 1856, but the church was not used again.
     The roofless shell stands next to a farm lane atop a slight knoll. Like many medieval churches, it is surrounded by a graveyard bordered by an outer wall of irregular stone. Rural splendor surrounds the grounds with forests, fields and a sandy bog along three sides with a farm house and yard located at the fourth. Here it was, in this place, that a distant congregation -- long gone, with no images to remind us -- gathered each Sunday anticipating the sacramental season.

Kerr & Lockie pictured the piece
in 1940 (KL3); Burzinski cataloged
the piece as B77.

     Burzinski lists four CTs from the parish of Abdie. Two undated rounds marked by the letter A are probably the earliest pieces due to their simple manufacture. A small rectangle measuring 16x13mm and dated 1725 is likely to be the third CT used. Finally, a modern oval dated 1849 also announces itself as an Abdie piece, but we know it was used at the new church located further down the lane. This church was built in 1827 to serve both Abdie and neighboring Dunbog.
     The 22 tokens found in the earth were all of the third type. As the date suggests, they were used at the twilight of this church's service. This provides a clue about how they came to be placed in the ground. Perhaps they were buried in the course of moving to the new church two years later. Twenty-two is not a large number: too small to carry away or melt, but enough to be placed ceremoniously in the ground within view of the old gallery -- a fitting tribute to centuries of worship and fellowship. Take a moment to imagine the scene: Was it during a misty morning? Did the minister or elder scout out a place? Or, did they know exactly where to bury them? We can never revisit this moment. But we can touch a piece of this action.
     We will explore the actual pieces in the next posting!

Market Watch

This Market Watch reviews ebay sales for the past week: December 29 through January 4. As the holidays continued to wind down, CT trading was slow. The weather was frigid too, so maybe that was a factor -- everyone was huddled by the stove. Consequently, there were only 18 sales this week.
     Eight CTs sold for less than $20 in the C range. Nine CTs sold above this mark but under $50 in the B range. In contrast, there was one piece that sold in the A range for $74.
     Several of the higher priced CTs were sold at BIN prices from a dozen or more pieces offered by citcns, a Canadian dealer from Nova Scotia. I have purchased several CTs from this dealer over the years with complete satisfaction.

Clearly the letters and numbers were
hand stamped, as the alignment is
quite poor with the date unevenly
spaced and running into the parish
name -- all the more quaint this way. 

     The top CT for the week was a primitive oval, dated 1850, from the St. Louis de Gonzague congregation (CE-248A1). It was a one-sided piece, broad at 42x30mm, with incused lettering that was hand-punched -- I suppose each one of them is unique with respect to the spacing of the letters. Major varieties include both thin and thick lettering -- this one was of the thin lettering type. As mentioned above, the oval sold for $74 -- a price that is just what the Charlton guidebook indicates as the value.
     Such a primitive oval reflects the use of a relatively late shape (an oval) that was handcrafted on the frontier where resources were likely to be few -- in other words, it is one of the crudest ovals you can find (hence its charm). Many Canadian pieces show this contrast.
     The St. Louis congregation was formed in the 1830s. They met in homes until a log church was built in 1842. The congregation split soon afterwards with some folks forming the Free Church. This CT comes from the Church of Scotland or the old Kirk. The minister was Rev. James Paul; he began his tenure in June of 1850. As such, this token is likely to come from  his first communion service. It is not clear if the token was used later -- or maybe the date reflects the start of his tenure.
     In sum, a slow week, but a good week for collectors who were looking for a few nice Canadian pieces. Oh, and a few Scottish pieces too -- I even got one!

An Outlaw Communion Token for the New Year

The title sounds bad: an outlaw communion token? But let us not jump to conclusions.
     Sometimes old tokens get a new lease on life. And since the band is warming up for a New Year Celebration (plus a big parade), this turns out to be a good thing!
     Yes, we all know how CTs got their start.
     They were revered and considered sacred by their association with the communion service. With the crush of life wearing us down, it was nice to know that the promise of salvation was at the other end. The tokens we collect are part of this history of human longing.
     So what do we make of the one shown here? It is an oval, dated 1849, from the parish of Abdie in Fife. Is it a profaned piece? An outlaw? No, of course not. Why? Because it is no longer a communion token. Once stamped, it becomes something else.
     So let us rejoice -- especially in this season of earthly reverie -- it is "good for one drink" in some unknown saloon. But where?
     The token was found in a junk box of numismatic miscellany at a coin show in Winchester, Virginia, by a close friend of mine. A few other "good for" impressions were stamped on those mass-marketed angel pocket pieces you see advertised on ebay by the lot.
     So how did a CT get mixed up with all these barroom pieces? Your guess is as good as mine.
     In the meantime, let's have a cold one (soft or otherwise) and celebrate 2014!
     Now, If only I could find that saloon.