Halfpenny token of Richard Butler
We don’t feature many tokens on the website so it was nice when this one came in. It was found by Marcus Read, who asked for it to be identified and valued.
On the obverse is a standing figure with RICHARD in front and BVTLER behind. On the reverse, in five lines, is IN BER MONSEY STREET HIS HALF PENNY. Therefore, this is a square 17th century token with a face value of one halfpenny. Square tokens of the period seem to be the rarest.
This token was issued by Richard Butler, who was in some kind of business in Bermondsey Street, Southwark. In Michael Dickinson’s Seventeenth Century Tokens of the British Isles several Bermondsey Street tokens are listed but there is no mention of the one found by Marcus. This means that it must be of great rarity.
Valuation
In 2017 a square token issued by John Skinner of Bermondsey Street (Dickinson 167) was sold at auction; it was graded as good Fine and the hammer price was £550.
The token found by Marcus is a bit weak on the obverse but overall it is good enough to grade at least good Fine. As it is a great rarity it would certainly be of interest to specialist collectors. If I was cataloguing it for sale at auction I would set the pre-sale estimate at £500 to £600 and hope it would sell for the higher figure.
Valuation Service
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