Owner Comments:
Middlesex Spence DH #776
Obverse: Bust of a bearded man in a broad-brimmed hat LD GEO GORDON DIED IN NEWGATE NOV 1 1793
Reverse: A caduceus between a crown and a Liberty Cap WE WERE BORN FREE AND WILL NEVER DIE SLAVES in six lines
Edge: SPENCE X DEALER X IN X COINS X LONDON X
Diesinker: Unknown
Manufacturer: Thomas Spence
Rarity: Common
Lord George Gordon was a British politician best known for lending his name to the Gordon riots in 1780. Born into Scottish nobility he served in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1780. After his conversion to Judaism he was ostracized and died in Newgate prison.
Often referred to as the first socialist, Thomas Spence was born in 1750 in Newcastle-upon Tyne and was an English radical, advocating for common ownership of the land and equality of the sexes. He was one of the leading revolutionaries of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He left Newcastle for London in 1787 and had a book shop ‘The Hive of Liberty’ at 8 Little Turnstile, High Holborn. He published a weekly tabloid “Pigs Meat, or Lessons for the Swinish Multitude, Collected by the Poor Man’s Advocate” where he advocated for reforms. He was a member of the London Corresponding Society and was imprisoned multiple times. He spent 7 months in Newgate Goal in 1794 charged with high treason and 12 months in 1801 for seditious libel. He died in London on 8 September 1814.
One of Thomas Spence's many political tokens.
Atkins: Middlesex 608
Davisson Sale #30, 11 October 2011