17th Century token collection sells for almost £22k

A collection of more than 70 tokens that date back to the 17th Century has been sold at auction for a total of £21,830 - nearly £7,000 above the guide price.

The tokens were issued by traders across Cornwall for use as currency at times when governments were not issuing small change.

The collection was built up over 30 years by Mac McCarthy, who is from Cornwall, and was sold at an auction at Noonans Mayfair on Wednesday.

The highest individual price was paid for a rare 1669 farthing from East Looe bearing the name of Richard Scadgell, which sold for £1,000 to a private collector in Looe.

Another rare farthing from Penryn inscribed Ursula Spurr 1668 sold for £850 to a London dealer acting on behalf of a private collector.

Peter Preston-Morley, special projects director at Noonans, said: "There is evidence in the 1658 will of Vincent Smaley, father of Ursula Spurr, that she was married to an unsatisfactory husband.

"Smaley left his daughter £8 per year during her husband's life, but if he died, she was then to have £100 per year - presumably he felt the husband was not competent to handle such a large amount of money."

The collection featured tokens for people who lived in St Keverne, East Looe, Penzance, Liskeard, Lostwithiel, Padstow, Penryn, Truro, Camelford, Falmouth, Helston, Launceston, St. Ives and Fowey, among other places.

Preston-Morley added: "Tokens were a currency substitute issued by private individuals, merchants and organisations when governments were not, for various reasons, issuing small change.

"They are mostly copper, although during the Napoleonic wars silver tokens were also made and circulated."

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