Heritage World Coin Auctions
CCE Signature Sale 3064 20-21 Apr 2018
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Canada
Lower Canada. Pair of Wellington Tokens,
1) Wellington Penny 1813 MS62 Brown NGC, Br-974, WE-3, Courteau-29, 17.76 gm.
2) Unc., Wellington Peninsular 1/2 Penny ND (c. 1812), Br-987, WE-11A1, Courteau-4, 8.48 gm. Reeded edge, diagonally.
As Edward Thomason relates it in his Memoirs, about the beginning of 1812 the British government appointed J.K. Picard as agent to procure a unique copper coinage with which the Duke of Wellington could pay his troops fighting in the Iberian peninsula. Picard, along with his father, ran the Hull Lead Works. Picard arranged with Thomason to strike the coppers. Thomason, in turn, engaged Thomas Halliday to engrave the dies. The tokens, which came to be called "peninsular" halfpennies, were produced in considerable numbers. Whether they actually circulated in Spain is open to question, but they certainly circulated in England. Concerned by the recent appearance of "counterfeits" of his peninsular coppers, Picard published an announcement in August 1813, calling them in for redemption. Judging by the quantity found in Canadian hordes, one assumes that Picard or an intermediary sold the tokens to a Canadian client, following their withdrawal in England.
From the Doug Robins Collection of Canadian Tokens
HID02901242017
Estimate: 400-500 USD
Lower Canada. Pair of Wellington Tokens,
1) Wellington Penny 1813 MS62 Brown NGC, Br-974, WE-3, Courteau-29, 17.76 gm.
2) Unc., Wellington Peninsular 1/2 Penny ND (c. 1812), Br-987, WE-11A1, Courteau-4, 8.48 gm. Reeded edge, diagonally.
As Edward Thomason relates it in his Memoirs, about the beginning of 1812 the British government appointed J.K. Picard as agent to procure a unique copper coinage with which the Duke of Wellington could pay his troops fighting in the Iberian peninsula. Picard, along with his father, ran the Hull Lead Works. Picard arranged with Thomason to strike the coppers. Thomason, in turn, engaged Thomas Halliday to engrave the dies. The tokens, which came to be called "peninsular" halfpennies, were produced in considerable numbers. Whether they actually circulated in Spain is open to question, but they certainly circulated in England. Concerned by the recent appearance of "counterfeits" of his peninsular coppers, Picard published an announcement in August 1813, calling them in for redemption. Judging by the quantity found in Canadian hordes, one assumes that Picard or an intermediary sold the tokens to a Canadian client, following their withdrawal in England.
From the Doug Robins Collection of Canadian Tokens
HID02901242017
Estimate: 400-500 USD