Other British Tokens from the Collection formed by the late Edward Watkin

Edward Arthur Watkin (1921 - 2014)
Edward Arthur Watkin, usually known as Ted, was born in Stoke-on-Trent on 3 August 1921 into a family who largely worked in pottery manufacturing. Ted himself spent his entire career in the ceramics industry. Passionate about Staffordshire, its history and its nature, he was very proud that, barring his time serving with the Royal Signals in the Orkney Isles and the King’s African Rifles in Burma during the Second World War, he had lived in the north of the county all his life; firstly in Newcastle-under-Lyme, then near Eccleshall and finally in the village of Betley, where he spent his last 40 years.
Ted was an avid collector from childhood. As with many of his generation, he started with stamps, then developed through coins and tokens, fossils, minerals, insects, and sea-shells to postcards. He became an authority on local postcards and was the co-author of several books depicting cards from towns and villages in north Staffordshire. Away from collecting, Ted loved nature and the outdoors and was keen on ornithology and hill-walking; on his 70th birthday he walked up Snowdon.
Ted’s collecting of English coins and Staffordshire tokens started in the mid 1930s and he was still acquiring new pieces right up to the time of his death. In 1961 he produced the work “Staffordshire Tokens and their place in the Coinage of England”, published as his presidential address in the North Staffordshire Journal of Field Studies, volume 1. A list of additions and corrections to the 17th century portion of Ted’s study was published by him in volume 13 of the NSJFS (1973). To this day it is considered to be the definitive work on the subject and incorporated two plates of tokens from Ted’s collection. His numismatic passion was his local tokens, although it is a matter of some regret that hardly any of his neat tickets incorporate provenances of any kind. However, his manuscript notes (lot 285 in this catalogue) are more forthcoming on some early provenances, including the William Goostry cabinet, believed dispersed in 1887, and at least one token was originally collected by the Stone antiquarian Stebbing Shaw (†1799). Some unprovenanced 17th century tokens almost certainly derive from the large holding of over 220 pieces put together by William James Faulkner (1862-1939), of Endon, sold in May 1940, or the 60-odd pieces collected by R.J. Carthew (1863-1943) and offered for sale in March 1946, but we cannot now know which. There are some surprising absences, such as the well-known octagonal issue of Gnosall, but these are countered by the inclusion of many rare pieces not originally listed in Williamson’s Boyne.
By the late 1960s Ted’s collection of English coins was sizeable and his near neighbour, the sculptor Arnold Machin (1911-99), visited him regularly to study his cabinets, spending hours examining how previous mints had coped with numismatic design. It is entirely possible that Ted’s coins influenced Machin’s work when it came to finalising designs for the decimal coinage, for which Machin had been approached in 1964. Ted joined the Crewe & District Coin & Medal Society in 1976 and was appointed chairman in 1980. In that year he persuaded Machin, then living at Garmelow Manor, Eccleshall, to come out of retirement and address the society, an occasion remembered by founder member Brian Edge as a memorable evening for the 57 people who attended. Subsequently, Ted was a delegate at the very first Token Congress, held in Crewe in 1982.
Ted’s death occurred on 23 December 2014, at the venerable age of 93. He leaves his widow, Enid, and two sons, Christopher and James.
James Watkin/P.J.P-M.
Collection Information
This collection was sold on 21 September 2016.
Other Collections Sold in 2016
- The Barrett J. Carr Collection of Boer War Medals
- Edwardian Sterlings of the Bury St Edmunds Mint, From the Collection of Dr Robin Eaglen
- Coins of Charles I From the Lyall Collection
- A Collection of Medals to the Gloucestershire Regiment (28th and 61st Foot)
- A Collection of Medals to The South Wales Borderers
- A Collection of Medals to the Manchester Regiment
- A Collection of Militaria to the Gloucestershire Regiment (28th and 61st Foot)
- A Parcel of Coins from the Durham (Neville’s Cross) Hoard, 1889
- A Collection of British Silver and Copper Coins, 1662-1758, the Property of a Cambridge Scholar
- A Collection of Shillings, Charles II to Edward VII, the Property of a Gentleman
- A Good Group of Victorian Florins, 1849-1901, the Property of a Gentleman
- A Collection of Maundy Coins and Sets, Charles II to Elizabeth II, the Property of a Gentleman
- Edward VIII Coins and Related Ephemera, from the Estate of the late Miss Fairlie Hopkin
- Numismatic Books from the Library of the late Jeffrey Gardiner, Darlington
- British Historical Medals from the Collection of the late David Perry
- A Group of Cheques Signed By the Late Lord Lucan
- A Collection of English Hammered Coins, the Property of a Cambridge Scholar
- Pennies of the Durham Mint, from the Collection of Ray Robinson
- A Collection of British Milled Coins, the Property of a Gentleman
- A Collection of Shillings, George III to George V, the Property of a Gentleman
- A Collection of Ancient Coins, the Property of a Gentleman
- British Tokens from the Collection formed by the late Neil Todd
- A Group of Admiral Vernon Medals, the Property of a Gentleman
- A Good Group of Specimen Banknotes
- The Channer Family Medals
- A Collection of Gallantry Awards to the Indian Army for the Burma Campaign 1944-45
- A Small Collection of Medals to The Military Police
- London 17th Century Tokens from the Collection of Quentin Archer
- The Collection of Nottinghamshire 17th Century Tokens formed by Andrew Knighton
- The Collection of Somerset 17th Century Tokens formed by the late Terry Winsborough
- The Collection of Staffordshire Tokens formed by the late Edward Watkin
- Other British Tokens from the Collection formed by the late Edward Watkin
- British Tokens from the Collection formed by Tony Holmes
- Tokens and Gaming Counters from the Collection of Colin Narbeth
- British Historical Medals from the Collection of Derek Platts
- A Further Group of Admiral Vernon Medals, the Property of a Gentleman
- British Coins from the Collection of the late Edward Watkin
- A Collection of British Coins sold on behalf of the Royal Flying Corps Veterans Association
- The Berscar (Dumfries and Galloway) 2014 Hoard of Edwardian Sterlings
- The Collection of Medals to Welsh Regiments formed by the Late Llewellyn Lord
- The Collection of Medals to Musicians formed by the Late Llewellyn Lord
- The Collection of Militaria to Welsh Regiments formed by the Late Llewellyn Lord
- A Collection of Banknotes of Northern Ireland, the Property of a Gentleman
- A Group of Banknotes of Iran, the Property of a Gentleman
- A Collection of Medals to the West Yorkshire (14th Foot) and Yorkshire (19th Foot) Regiments
- A Collection of Medals to Members of the Nobility and The Royal Household
- British Coins from the C.J. Boismason Collection
- Irish Coins from the C.J. Boismason Collection
- British Historical Medals from the Collection of Michael Longfield
- A Collection of City of London Medals, the Property of a Gentleman
- The Collection of Sussex 17th Century Tokens formed by Tim Everson
- A Fine Collection of Racing Tickets and Passes, the Property of a North Country Collector
- British Tokens from the Collection of the late David Perry
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