London 17th Century Tokens from the Collection of Quentin Archer

Quentin Archer
I was born in the City of London, well within the sound of the bells of St Mary-le-Bow on Cheapside. I have spent almost my entire working life in the City. London is a special place for me, and for many years I have been fascinated by its history and its continual change.
Like many young boys of my generation, I was struck by the announcement in 1966 that the Government had decided to introduce decimal currency. Until then I had a collection of only a few worn bun pennies, but immediately I set about collecting coins from circulation - rather a challenge given my meagre pocket money. My fascination with coinage was clearly enough to compel my mother to take me late that year to the shop of B.A. Seaby in Great Portland Street, where a few shillings purchased an assortment of older British coins and I became a subscriber to the company's Bulletin.
Sadly there was little that I could afford, and my tentative enquiries after cheap Roman coins tended to be met with the news that I had been beaten to them by more energetic collectors. But in 1972, at the age of 16, I successfully bought three London 17th century tokens. It was to be another 30 years before I acquired any more, but in the intervening decades I never forgot them.
A quirk of the school timetable led me to study Russian, which I continued in my first year at Cambridge. I then switched to law and qualified as a solicitor, but my knowledge of Russian came in very handy on a couple of very large disputes for Soviet clients, and I travelled back and forth between London and Moscow on many occasions. In the process I became interested in Russian history and coinage, leading in time to a substantial collection of Russian medieval coins. I chose the medieval period because they presented a much more interesting puzzle than the well-published coins of more modern times. This led in turn to the creation of an equally substantial library of Russian numismatic books. However, increasing affluence in Russia caused the supply of new material to dry up in the West, and so I resolved to sell both collections. The coins were auctioned by Baldwins in London in 2013, and the books by Kolbe and Fanning in New York a few months later. A large proportion of both returned to Russia.
Meanwhile, my interest in the London tokens had resurfaced, aided by the appearance of Dora Harris's fine collection at Dix Noonan Webb in 2002. Somewhat to my surprise I was successful in buying most of the lots on offer. I collected spasmodically over the next few years, but I could not miss the sale of the Norweb collection of City of London tokens in 2008, and from then onwards my fascination with London tokens, history and topography has continued to grow.
The 17th century tokens of London are not only more numerous but also more varied than the issues of other parts of the British Isles. In almost all cases they identify not only the issuer but also the street where the issuer was based, and a great many can be traced back to individuals whose existence is well attested from other contemporary records. Some issuers became wealthy, while others died of the plague, were burnt out in the Great Fire or met other sorry fates. In some cases the tokens are the earliest known evidence for particular streets existing at all, reflecting the rapid and somewhat haphazard development of early modern London.
They were also democratic. There were no virtually no companies, so anyone who was not a servant or a holder of public office needed to have a trade, and (unless they dealt only in more expensive items) to have a means of giving small change. As a result, thousands of individuals in London chose to have their own tokens made. They should not be regarded simply as tavern tokens; issuers included tallow chandlers, grocers, meal men, oil men, bakers, sutlers, coffee-house keepers and even goldsmiths.
The tokens are a rich source for academic research. I have published a handful of articles on them and hope to write many more. However, now that the collection has grown almost as large as the Norweb holdings I see no reason to hang onto the physical pieces themselves, and hope that others will appreciate them as much as I have.
Quentin Archer
Collection Information
This collection was sold in 5 parts:
Other Collections Sold in 2020
- London 17th Century Tokens from the Collection of Quentin Archer
- British Tokens from the Collection formed by the late Jeffrey Gardiner
- English Coins from the Collection of the late Dr John Hulett
- The North Yorkshire Moors Collection of British Coins
- British Copper and Bronze Coins from the Collection formed by the late Hiram Brown
- Coins of Elizabeth I from the Collection Formed by Walter Wilkinson
- The David Kirch Collection of Jersey Paper Money
- A Collection of German Militaria
- The Collection of London 17th Century Tokens Formed by the Late Cole Danehower
- A Collection of Coins of the Indian Sultanates
- English and Anglo-Gallic Coins from the Michael Gietzelt Collection
- The Sutton Coldfield Collection of British Coins
- Charity Sale from the Archive of the AIB (formerly First Trust Bank)
- A Specialist Group of Milled Silver Coins
- Indian Coins from the Collection of the late John Roberts-Lewis
- Indian Coins from the Collection of John Rose
- Indian Historical Medals from the Collection formed by Michael Shaw
- The Yves Cataroche Collection of Guernsey Banknotes
- A Collection of Awards to the Q-Ship H.M.S. Penshurst
- A Collection of Army Gallantry Awards to the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, and the Royal Air Force
- A Collection of Waterloo Medals
- A Collection of Irish Coins, the Property of a Gentleman
- Irish Coins from the Michael Gietzelt Collection
- A Collection of Irish Historical Medals, the Property of a Gentleman
- The Brian Dawson Collection of British Tokens
- A Collection of Historical Medals, the property of a Gentleman
- A Collection of Medals formed by the Reverend Canon Nigel Nicholson, OStJ, DL
- A Collection of Police Medals
- The Collection of British Colonial Coins formed by the late John Roberts-Lewis
- The Antony Scammell Collection of British Coins
- A Collection of Queen’s South Africa Medals for the Relief of Ladysmith
- A Collection of 17th Century Tokens formed by a Gentleman Deceased
- Essex 18th Century Tokens from the Collection of the late Peter Spurdens
- Duplicate 19th Century Tokens from the Collection of the late Francis Cokayne
- The Malcolm Assistant Collection of Market Checks
- A Group of Tickets and Passes Related to Horse Racing
- Duplicate Southwark 17th Century Tokens from the Collection formed by the late Cole Danehower
- The Antony Scammell Collection of Roman Coins
- The Sarah Bernhardt Collection of Jewellery and Objects of Vertu
- The Culling Collection of Military Watches
- The Amherst Family Medals
- A Collection of Naval General Service Medals 1793-1840
- A Collection of Egypt and Sudan Medals for the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir
- A Collection of German Militaria
- An Interesting Collection of Bank of England Error Notes
- A Specialist Group of Milled Silver Coins
- A Collection of Queen’s South Africa Medals to the Royal Navy
- A Collection of Queen’s South Africa Medals for the Defence of Kimberley, Ladysmith and Mafeking
- A Collection of Queen’s South Africa Medals for the Relief of Mafeking and Kimberley
- A Small Collection of Medals to War Correspondents
- A Collection of South Atlantic Medals
- A Collection of Irish Tokens, Tickets and Passes, the Property of a Gentleman
- 18th Century Tokens from the Collection formed by the late David Barry Bailey
- Tickets and Passes of London from the David Young Collection
- Tokens of Cheshire and Lancashire from the Collection formed by Bob Lyall
- The Chislehurst Collection
- The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria
- A Specialist Group of Milled Bronze Coins
- The Collection of Scottish Coins formed by Michael Gietzelt
- A Fine Collection of Medals to the South Wales Borderers
- A Collection of Egypt and Sudan Medals to the Royal Navy
- The Maclaine Family Medals
- A Collection of Rupees of British India
- The Collection of British Tokens formed by John Rose
- Medals from the Collection of Warwick Cary
- A Collection of Egypt and Sudan Medals 1882-89
- A Remarkable Collection of Bank of England Errors
- A Collection of Medals to the Gloucestershire Regiment
- British Coins from the Collection of a Decorated Korean War Veteran
- A Collection of French Historical Medals, the Property of a Gentleman
- A Collection of Medals to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers
- The Collection of 17th Century Tokens formed by the late Robert Thompson
- Sussex Tokens, Tickets and Medals from the Collection formed by the late Ron Kerridge
- A Collection of British Historical Medals, the Property of a Gentleman
- Golfing Medals, the Property of Gary Alliss
- A Collection of Medals and Coins of Edward VIII
- A Collection of Medals to the Norfolk Regiment
- Medals from the Collection of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum
- A Collection of Queen’s South Africa Medals to the Royal Navy
- English Coins from the Collection of the late Peter Spurdens
- The Don Kenefick Collection of Historical Medals
- The ‘Boys at the Lake’ Collection of Durand’s Famous People of the World Medals
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