A pretty unique Conder token with a story. Birchall 28e

[MJ]

I purchased the following token from Bill McKivor. MJ

 

According to Bill:

This is one of only two pieces with this edge (done for Birchall’s amusement and collection)

It is considered RRR. (Bill thinks of one of two edges should be RRRR but there is no such thing)

It was part of the January 2008 Spinks sale in 2008 were prior it was in John Cokayne's holdings

D & H were given access to the Cokayne collection between 1910-1917. There is a separate section in the D & H book on the Birchall special edges.

This piece was logically bought at the 1905 Adkins sales by Cokayne.

The other Birchall 28e piece resides in England with the balance of the other Birchall pieces/edges as a complete collection.

[physics-fan3.14]

That's really cool. I have no idea anything about condors, but I can appreciate extreme rarity.

[Conder101]

Apparently the Birchall's tokens are all private tokens not intended for actual use but as "trade bait" for other rare tokens.and he seems to have had them made up from whatever leftover planchets were available from other peoples orders. The edges listed in D&H come from tokens issued all over the country for many different merchants.

[HiHoAudio]

Beautiful rare Conder in MS condition with lots of red luster peeking through.

 

I'm not sure why but I have a fascination for the hanging "Brooks Brothers" sheep design. I recently bought a 1794 Norwich Castle with an unfortunate sheep and the inscription "Good Times Will Come".

 

Not if you are a sheep!

[Yarm]

Neat story and token! I find the fact that a run of 100+ of these tokens have been kept intact for over 200 years pretty extraordinary.

 

So, how did you photograph the edge?!

[MJ]

Mark Goodman did the photography. He told me but my head exploded. MJ

[Conder101]

So, how did you photograph the edge?!

Use a flashlight reflector. Down and dirty explaination, put the coin in the reflector and the edge can be visible in the reflection. Shoot straight down at the coin and reflection, crop out everything except the edge reflection. Flip the image so it reads correctly.

[Yarm]

Thanks for the tip (I didn't bother to carve out the token)!

 

[HiHoAudio]

Thanks for the tip (I didn't bother to carve out the token)!

 

 

I prefer it more with the token NOT cropped out. And I learned something new today!

[physics-fan3.14]

I agree with HiHo - I think its easier to see with the token still in the middle. It gives the picture more of a reference, and is easier on the eyes, rather than trying to discern a tiny little strip.

[Conder101]

Some people find the reversed token to be a little distracting though.

[HiHoAudio]

Some people find the reversed token to be a little distracting though.

 

Anyone with rudimentary Photoshop skills could replace the reversed image with the normal one, which I think would work out best.

 

It would take a little while but the results would be worth it in my opinion.