Communion Tokens at the Baltimore Expo: The Grail of American CTs

The Baltimore Coin Expo did not disappoint.
     Three of us (John, Mike & I) arrived early on Friday. I had some coins to sell, so I did business first. A few silver dollars, large cents, and pieces of eight were consigned -- now it was time to check out the exonumia aisle.

John searching through
boxes of tokens.

     Only a few dealers had communion tokens. And, as expected, most of them were the same milky-gray, scuffed pieces from the last go-round. But then, I saw it. And then, a collector showed me another one. Two magnificent pieces: hand-engraved tokens of silver that represent the creme de la creme of the American series.
     Of course, I am referring to the First Presbyterian Church tokens of Charleston, South Carolina (Bason 392). Only 300 of these pieces were individually engraved in England -- about 14 to 20 are known today. This one is well-known among collectors of early American tokens -- a crossover piece that attracts attention from collectors of colonial coins, regional material culture, and communion tokens.
     The token depicts the table with chalice and bread on the obverse with the familiar legend: THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. The reverse shows an fiery burning bush with the phrase: NEC TAMEN CONSUMEBATUR (translated: (the fire) which does not consume. The edge is engraved to read: PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. CHARLESTON, S.C. 1800. All of the elements are incuse and neatly rendered with just enough variation to be primitive and elegant -- like folk art, but richer with more depth.
     This particular piece was being sold by Steve Hayden (one of my favorite exonumia dealers: friendly, relaxed, knows his business). It is the Burzinski plate specimen. Over the years, a number of folks have asked me if I had seen it. And here it was. The price was a cool $3000 -- sounds like a wad until you realize that this is less than many shiny silver dollars and gold eagles that have a lot less to say.

This one could be yours!
It is one of the first -- if not the first -- token from SC.

     I agonized, did the math. I ate raw tuna while chatting with John & Mike about it. Phoned my wife; she quipped with a sigh: "its just another coin!" I queried colonial token & medal dealers -- top shelf folks with pristine relics in their cases; they said: "Yea, I know it. It is really rare. You can't find one."
     I took a second and a third look. That's when another collector who had elbowed up said he had one to sell. And he did. It was just a few points nicer. He was not ready to part with it for less than five big ones. I could tell that he was not pleased to discover that the Burzinski piece had surfaced.
     In the end, I let it pass. And now, I am giving it to you! Go get it! It is the Grail of American CTs. If you only own one piece, this is it.
     So why did I let it go? I am not sure (oh, I could give many rationalizations ... but I spare you).
     I did, however, get a few nice American CTs: one of them, a beautiful round from Philadelphia (Bason 320) with finely grandular surfaces and even color. It has a bold heart in high relief on the reverse that I could not resist.
     As for the Grail, here is a nice link that describes the piece and its history, including a fascinating story about how the tokens were sent to Columbia, S.C. to avoid falling into the hands of Union troops during the Civil War. Apparently, they were found, mistaken as money, and pocketed. Here is the link: Description and Story of the First PC CTs of Charleston SC.

Market Watch

Just got back from Baltimore Coin Expo. I have lots of news about this! There were a few dozen tokens, including the Holy Grail of CTs -- two of them! I was fortunate to take a few CTs home; however, I left many on the table including the HGs. More on this (plus pictures) in the weeks to come.
     For now, I will review the ebay marketplace for the week of March 23 thru March 29. It was a busy week due to a large offering of CTs on Saturday.
     All told, 87 CTs were sold this week. This figure includes a paper token and a lot of five pieces in rough condition. The bulk of the pieces (77 to be exact) sold for C money with only 10 additional CTs selling at or above $20. One of these sold in the B range at $50 (actually the hammer was just shy by a few cents).
     A large group of CTs were sold by benachie (from Aberdeen) yesterday -- a whopping 56 pieces. He stated that this group came from a collection of 700 tokens that have been sitting since the 1970s, so more big auctions are on the way. Most of this group crossed the block in the C range. Bidding was active with over a dozen folks participating overall. It was an opportunity, as most of the CTs were nice.

As the use of metallic tokens passed out of fashion
in the mid to late 1800s, paper cards took their place.

     The one B CT sold came from this grouping: a small Fife rectangle from Forgan dated 1774 and cataloged as BK434. Four bidders entered the fray with two of them fighting it out at the end, casting 18 bids to reach the $50 mark. This specimen had a flat ashen patina with nice eye. Here is the link: Forgan 1774 CT.
     A paper communion card sold at the beginning of the week. We do not see many of these for sale. This one was from Wesleyan Methodist Church and was dated 1859. Autence Bason provided a catalog of these; however, I do not have this section of the guidebook. I did find several listings for Wesleyan Methodist Church in Pennsylvania (the seller is from PA, so I took a guess), but I will leave it to someone reading this blog to write in an let us know if it is from the keystone state or somewhere else. The card sold for one bid: $20.
     Other news includes the upcoming Simmons Gallery auction of the Bob Merchant collection (Part 3). This sale closes in May, so we have much time to discuss it. I will provide a review of the sale in upcoming posts.

Off-center Communion Token & the Machine Age

We have seen many blundered dies over the past year. Of course, the round token from Balmerino comes to mind -- retrograde 2 and upside-down 5 in a 1725 date is hard to beat (BK138). And how about the retrograde 6 on the Humbie token just a few weeks ago (BK521).

SFC CT struck off-center by 15%. I wonder if any
double-struck or extreme off-center pieces (30+%) exist?

     Today we have an off-center strike. As CT production became the business of professionals, the chance for these machine errors increased. Still, they are not encountered very often. Quality control was quite good.
     This cut-rectangle from Stockwell is off-center by about 15%. It was not bad enough to be thrown into the melt bin. But maybe it came to a similar fate -- that is, it was set aside by one of the elders. After all, it is new old stock with the glint of luster in recessed areas.
     This CT is cataloged as BZ6601. Many NOS examples of this one are available in the marketplace. I found a fixed price listing for a similar one (but centered) for under $20.
     This token was used by Minister J.S. Alexander on the last year of his tenure as depicted on the token itself: 1842 through 1860 -- he was the first minister, as the church was built in 1842. It became a Free Church in 1843. Stockwell FC was located in the city of Glasgow, but due to population movements, the church was closed, sold, and the building converted to a warehouse in 1886.
     From a historical perspective, this piece underscores the transition to commercial token-making. No longer did the elders work with the local plumber or blacksmith. And I doubt that they stood by at the factory that struck these cut-rectangles. They were probably made to order and packaged securely in a box. It was the beginning of the end.
     This error is not as romantic as those caused by a die-cutter tremors, or lack of tools, or poor mental flexibility preventing one from cutting molds accurately in reverse. No, this piece was done by a machine -- probably steam-powered.
     Token size had become all but standardized by this time: nearly all cut-rectangles measured 27x19mm. In the decades before, there were minor variations of one or two millimeters, but not now. In fact, 63% of all Glasgow CTs were cut-rectangles, and just over 50% of these measured 27x19mm -- nearly all of this latter group were post-1850 issues.
     If you have a more "severe" error CT from the post-1850s era, please share it.

Off to the Baltimore Coin Expo

Here are some remnants of Lester Burzinski's
collection from the last Expo. There were more
CTs than even I could handle. You can see all
the slabbed CW tokens under the glass below.

It is that time again. The Whitman Baltimore Expo is this coming weekend: March 27-30th.
     Hopefully my trusty Honda will get me there -- it just turned over 200,000 miles. The engine light has been on for years, but I checked under the hood, and the engine was still there. It is a 4 hour drive, so I will need to make up some travel CDs to get me there.
     Once again I plan to search for CTs and give a report of how many tokens were available at the show. I am also bringing some large cents and a few silver coins to sell or consign at auction.
     If I am fortunate, I will come across a CT or two for myself -- it is hard to beat the ebay marketplace. Nonetheless, I always allow myself to impulse-buy a book or some odd token.
     I also plan to eat a few crab cakes. I know where the best ones are made: thick & buttery with lots of backfin.
     I will meet up with a few other token & coin collectors to catch up on the news. If you are going to Baltimore, let me know on this blog, as I would be happy to say hello on Friday or have lunch together.
     I have to be home on Sunday to complete my chores: my wife will have big list: for example, picking up and burning sticks.

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.
  

Exigent or "Quick" Communion Tokens

Sometimes you just have to make do.
     If you need tokens -- and have few resources at hand -- then just cut up some sheet metal and stamp them out! This may seem easy to do, but in the 19th century the elders could not make a trip to the hardware store and buy sheets of metal. Hence, molding lead was the most available method.
     But if your congregation was near an industrial center in the heyday of iron smelting, maybe you could find some hammered or rolled strips of metal from which to cut your tokens. It would be quick, and it would not require too much fuss. Also, if you were slim on resources, this might be the only way to go.

Cut sheet-iron with a stamped S
from Glassford parish -- an exigent
issue by the Free Church?

     This appears to be what happened in Glassford, a small parish just south of Glasgow, in Larnark.
     A parish church was erected there in 1820, replacing an older one from the 17th century. An extension church was also built in nearby Chapelton in 1839. But in 1843, much of the congregation at Chapelton moved out to form the Free Church. They had no roof to gather under, so they worshipped in the open air. For a time, a school was used. It was not until 1888 that a new church was erected.
     Brook cataloged a small molded rectangle (10x8mm) from the first church at Glassford: it was a sunken panel piece engraved with KG for the parish (BK478). Kerr & Lockie added another piece to the catalog with KG on the obverse and 1763 on the reverse -- this one was square (KL113A).
     Then, we have a series of irregularly cut pieces of sheet iron from the 19th century. Kerr & Lockie (1942) list seven (maybe eight) of them ranging in size from 12 to 21mm. One of them has no inscription. Four of them have GSS stamped in the metal -- interpreted as Glassford Sunday School -- with a number below: I, 1, 5, and 10 are listed. There is another piece with just a 10 and no letters. Also, there is one with just an S. Finally, there is a pieces with G/1822 on obverse and No 3 on reverse -- the composition is not mentioned (probably lead).

Modern style CT from the Glassford
Parish Church (from Burzinski).

     In this post, I picture the one with only an S (KL42-603; BZ6112). Each piece was made in two steps: cut, then stamp. As such, each piece is unique. But the simplicity of design makes them all very similar.
     So, which church used them? And why the exigent production?
     The iron industry rapidly developed in the Glasgow region in the 1780s. One of the larger manufactories was the Clyde Iron Works that was established in Tollcross in 1786 -- just north of Glassford parish. But iron was widely available in the 1800s: there were over 200 iron works operating by mid-century. Sheet iron would not be hard to find by this time.
     So, did the Free Church -- out in the cold, without resources -- avail themselves of this metal to produce some CTs? It is an interesting theory. The Kirk itself was well-established and used a nicely designed cut-rectangle in 1850 (BZ2809). But the FC had to make do: meeting in the open air and then in a school until a church was built in 1888.
     Kerr & Lockie (1942) commented: "Glassford provides an example of the use of sheet-iron, though the crude pieces concerned appear to have been diverted from their original purpose to serve as communion tokens only in an emergency." In their subsequent article (1944) where they cataloged CTs of the Free Church, Glassford is not mentioned.
     All this begs the question: Are the sheet-iron pieces from the FC? Or, was there an exigency that required a stopgap production of primitive CTs in the Kirk? Any thoughts?
***Please see the comments below. The origin of the sheet-iron tokens is still a mystery -- for example, what does the S mean? If you have anything to add, please step forward and share your thoughts.
   

Market Watch

This market watch reviews all ebay sales during the period between March 9 and March 15. It was a relatively busy week with 106 CTs sold in 80 sales. A number of group lots were sold with three, four, and five pieces selling at a time.
     The bulk of the CTs sold for C prices: 89 pieces in all, representing over 80% of the total. There were many good deals out there this week -- but spurious pieces were also slipped into the marketplace (I urge you to take a close look and decide for yourself).

The West River congregation in Pictou County was
established in 1795 or shortly thereafter. Many of the
members of this church formed the Salem congregation.
This is a stock token design made to order.

     Only seventeen CTs sold for over $20. Fifteen of these crossed the block in the B range (under $50), whereas two pieces sold for more in the BB category. Both of these top CTs sold at BIN prices.
     A Canadian CT from the Salem Church in Greenhill, Nova Scotia, sold quickly at $72. This cut-rectangle with stock reverse (cataloged as NS228 in Charlton) is listed at $70 in VF condition -- this one was at least that and was worth all the money. This CT is one of the more scarce issues among the nearly 30 cut-rectangles from this province. Here is the link: CT from Salem Church at Greenhill in Nova Scotia.
     Another CT sold fast at the $63 mark. This one was a piece from Middlesex (part of larger London) in England (BK4430). It was a boldly designed square with sharp borders and block lettering. The obverse was all business: Ac/CON./LON. The reverse put it bluntly: TOKEN. It is a presentation akin to CTs from Aberdeen, but with attractive ornaments: in this case, a bundle of wheat stalks and a leafy vine with a small cluster of grapes.

Is this one from Wells Street APC?

     There are many Presbyterian churches in and around London. This piece appears to come from the Wells Street Scotch Church (in Marylebone) that was established in 1733. A similar piece using the same obverse die is clearly attributed to the Minister Alexander Waugh (BK4429) -- he was a scholarly man with a DD who served at Wells Street until his death in 1827. His memoir is available on Amazon, and there is a bio available on the Electric Scotland website. Hopefully, the new owner of this token can find out if this CT came from the W-S church, or if the obverse die was shared by neighboring congregation.
     Of note, another trio of Crown Court CTs with packaging from Burzinski sold for $121. Seven bids were cast by 4 bidders to get this set. This the third CC trio of CTs sold in 2014: a set sold for $201 in January and another set sold for $173 in February -- the photos are different in each listing, hence three sets. The price has dropped within the B range, although I imagine the silver CT is probably worth BB or A money.
     Finally, I close with an ALERT. Several group lots of of primitive CTs from Abernethy, Dornoch, Ladykirk, Longside, among others, have been sold, and they just keep coming. We have to ask: How likely is it that a hoard of simple CTs (all with incused letters or one/two letter initials in relief) that appear to be uniform in color and condition (like new) exists in the USA when large established collections from Scotland do not have similar pieces. These pieces are not from the same shire or neighboring ones, so how did the hoard come to be?
     Several of big collections have been sold on ebay in the past year, so I implore you to use the photos accompanying these sales to discover how a particular CT should look. Check out my previous posting on Fort William CTs to see what I mean.