~18th Century "Conder" Tokens -The LL&P Collection
1797 1p G.Brit.

Owner Comments:

Middlesex - Kempson's, D&H - 71, MS - 62 BN, Edge: I promise to pay..., Rarity: scarce. If not for a bad stain on the reverse I great looking token. The first fixed crossing at Blackfriars was a 995 feet (303 m) long toll bridge designed in an Italianate style by Robert Mylne and constructed with nine semi-elliptical arches of Portland stone. Beating designs by John Gwynn and George Dance, it took nine years to build, opening to the public in 1769. It was the third bridge across the Thames in the then built-up area of London, supplementing the ancient London Bridge, which dated from several centuries earlier, and Westminster Bridge. It was originally named "William Pitt Bridge" (after the Prime Minister William Pitt) as a dedication, but its informal name relating to the precinct within the City named after the Blackfriars Monastery, a Dominican priory which once stood nearby, was generally adopted.