Baldwin & Sons
Auction 107 5 Oct 2022
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Banbury, Prize Fighting Ring, Penny/medalet 1789, unsigned, bust of Thomas Johnson left, rev. BELLA!
HORRIDA BELLA!, and around SCIENCE AND INTREPIDITY, 34mm/18.90gm. (DH Warks. 12), good
Extremely Fine with a lot of original colour; rare in this condition.
Ex. 'an old Surrey Col.' via Mark Rasmussen Sep.2016.
Tom Johnson (c. 1750 –1797), from Derby, was a bare-knuckle fighter who was generally known to be Champion of England between 1784 and 1791. Prize fighting had become a popular sport in the eighteenth century and his prowess in boxing gave him public recognition and national fame. His success was largely due to his technical
ability, his analytical approach, his calm and not just his very great strength. However, Johnson was not so
successful outside the ring – he was an inveterate gambler and generally seen to be easy prey for the 'sharper'
players. Undoubtedly, he earned a great deal of money from boxing and more than any other fighter at the time – or for that matter for the next fifty years or so.
After his retirement in 1791 he bought a public house, the Grapes, in Lincoln's Inn Fields which soon became a
den of gambling and criminal activity and just a few years later he died a poor man with virtually all of his very
large wealth squandered.
In October of 1789, at Banbury, Johnson fought Isaac Perrins from London, nicknamed the 'knock-kneed
hammerman from Soho' and it is to this outdoor event, attracting some 4,000 spectators, that the coin above refers.
The contest was billed as a battle between Birmingham and London as well as for the English Championship.
The two men were much the same age (late 30s) but very different in physique – Johnson was around 5"8' weighing 196lbs. and Perrins taller at 6"2', weighing 238lbs. Johnson was smaller but nimble and artful and Perrins was larger but naïve and bull-like. After 75 minutes of 65 rounds the exhausted favourite, Isaac Perrins was defeated, and it is recorded that "his face had scarcely the traces left of a human being". Both Johnson and Perrins received 250 guineas for participating and Johnston received 2/3rds of the some. £800 taken at the gate. In addition, Johnston received 'gifts' from happy supporters who had bet on him, particularly. £1,000 from a Thomas Bullock who reportedly won £20,000 from a successful wager!
HORRIDA BELLA!, and around SCIENCE AND INTREPIDITY, 34mm/18.90gm. (DH Warks. 12), good
Extremely Fine with a lot of original colour; rare in this condition.
Ex. 'an old Surrey Col.' via Mark Rasmussen Sep.2016.
Tom Johnson (c. 1750 –1797), from Derby, was a bare-knuckle fighter who was generally known to be Champion of England between 1784 and 1791. Prize fighting had become a popular sport in the eighteenth century and his prowess in boxing gave him public recognition and national fame. His success was largely due to his technical
ability, his analytical approach, his calm and not just his very great strength. However, Johnson was not so
successful outside the ring – he was an inveterate gambler and generally seen to be easy prey for the 'sharper'
players. Undoubtedly, he earned a great deal of money from boxing and more than any other fighter at the time – or for that matter for the next fifty years or so.
After his retirement in 1791 he bought a public house, the Grapes, in Lincoln's Inn Fields which soon became a
den of gambling and criminal activity and just a few years later he died a poor man with virtually all of his very
large wealth squandered.
In October of 1789, at Banbury, Johnson fought Isaac Perrins from London, nicknamed the 'knock-kneed
hammerman from Soho' and it is to this outdoor event, attracting some 4,000 spectators, that the coin above refers.
The contest was billed as a battle between Birmingham and London as well as for the English Championship.
The two men were much the same age (late 30s) but very different in physique – Johnson was around 5"8' weighing 196lbs. and Perrins taller at 6"2', weighing 238lbs. Johnson was smaller but nimble and artful and Perrins was larger but naïve and bull-like. After 75 minutes of 65 rounds the exhausted favourite, Isaac Perrins was defeated, and it is recorded that "his face had scarcely the traces left of a human being". Both Johnson and Perrins received 250 guineas for participating and Johnston received 2/3rds of the some. £800 taken at the gate. In addition, Johnston received 'gifts' from happy supporters who had bet on him, particularly. £1,000 from a Thomas Bullock who reportedly won £20,000 from a successful wager!