British Tokens from the Collection of the late David Perry

David Perry, OBE (1932 - 2015)
David Perry, born in Cheam, Surrey, on 17 June 1932, was educated at Blakesley House, Worcester Park and subsequently Sutton County Grammar school where, while in his teens and in the same year as the broadcaster and botanist David Bellamy, he decided to forge a career in forestry.
Between 1951 and 1954 David studied forestry at the University of Edinburgh, from which he graduated with first class honours in 1955. His national service was spent with the Royal Engineers and in 1957 he joined the Forestry Commission as an assistant forest officer for Berkshire. He advanced to district forest officer based in Guildford in 1959, then to the Gwydyr Forester Training School in Caernarvonshire before being appointed district forestry officer in charge of Kielder Forest in Northumberland in 1966. Subsequent appointments followed in Thetford (1969), Forest of Ae, Dumfriesshire (1972) and York, before he became Deputy Surveyor of the New Forest in 1985.
In 1986 David became chairman of the newly-established New Forest Review Group, whose recommendations, approved by the then Secretary of State, John Selwyn Gummer, resulted in the creation of the New Forest Heritage Area to safeguard the surrounding lands, much of which were privately owned, from development. His management skills, tact, diplomacy and attention to detail, which were hallmarks of his whole life, helped to give the New Forest a status similar to Britain’s other national parks. He retired in 1992 and was awarded the O.B.E. for services to forestry.
David had an enduring love for the Scottish Borders, particularly his former home in Lochmaben, and during his working life had travelled north most years in what his friends and family called his ‘Progress’ en route to the Edinburgh Festival. He retained the friendship of David Bellamy throughout his life and was close to the playwright Alan Bennett and the late talk show host Russell Harty. He had hoped to retire to the north but ill-health meant that he remained at his home in Brockenhurst until 2012 and his final years were spent in a retirement home in nearby Barton-on-Sea, where he died on 5 January 2015.
With a wide taste for the arts, David was himself a skilled artist, specialising in architectural penand-ink drawings. He was an avid collector of antique sporting firearms and had a renowned library relating to forestry. A Worcester teapot, purchased for six guineas in September 1966, begat a collection of ceramics, while the 25p purchase of a rare farthing from Sanquhar (DH Dumfries 1) in March 1977, started David on a quest for tokens and, subsequently, commemorative medals, which concluded with the purchase of a handful of Scottish communion tokens in 2011. All his purchases were meticulously recorded in a ledger; during his lifetime some tokens and medals were sold to fellow-collectors at the annual Token Congress. Despite entreaties from his local numismatic societies in Bournemouth and Southampton to join, David preferred to enjoy his coins from the comfort of his armchair in Brockenhurst, sent to him for approval from Hiram Brown in Edinburgh to Vernon Henstridge in Pokesdown, Bournemouth, and all points in between.
Collection Information
This collection was sold on 21 March 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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