Weekly Market Watch

This market watch examines ebay auctions from June 23 thru June 29. CTs that sell for over $100 (highly desired or HD) are described, and CTs that sell for over $75 (desired or D) are mentioned.
     Overall, 72 CTs were sold on ebay this week with 45 of them trading for under $20 and three others selling for over $50. There was one HD CT this week that sold on 6/24: an irregular, octagonal piece from Dunbog in Fife with the legend enclosed in a circle: PARISH DVNBVG, and the initials M / I M in the center. This dark token was sprinkled with salty corrosion and the lettering was a bit flat. The auction attracted five bidders; seven bids were cast -- the winning bid was $106.
     This is an old piece from the period of Reverend John Makgill who served at Dunbog between 1646 and 1654; consequently, it comes from turbulent times in Scotland. The National Covenant was adopted only 8 years prior to Makgill's tenure, and the Covenanters ended up supporting Charles I with hopes of overthrowing Cromwell and the radical parliamentarians in England. Well, things did not work out that way, as the Scots were roundly beaten on the battlefield, and Charles I was beheaded on 30 January 1649. Cromwell's war machine invaded Scotland several times in the years to come.
     This Dunbog token ranks in at #3 for HD CTs sold in June; it follows behind the Panbride CT sold on 6/15 and the Dron token sold on 6/1. All of these tokens are seventeenth century pieces.
     Looking back at this week's action, we see that two big sales dominated the marketplace on ebay: tomv007 sold 38 CTs from Angus and cobwrightortishe sold 21 tokens. Both of these sellers are offering items from old collections with a few rare pieces included.
     Here are some random notes of interest. A Glasgow-styled square from Newbigging in Angus, dated 1791, sold for $16 on 6/23. It was part of the collection being sold by tomv007. A similar token sold for $71 on 6/9 -- it was from the same collection. In the latter case, two bidders fought it out to drive up the price. This specimen was a tad better, but not by much. As such, this is a good example of how CT values can be inflated by eager auction buyers in a thin market. Obviously, both collectors wanted it badly, and they did not know if another one was going to come on the market for awhile. I have not seen this token in over two years on ebay. Get it when you can!