Owner Comments:
Middlesex Spence DH #804c
Obverse: Conjoined heads of William Pitt the Younger and Charles Fox, legend ODD FELLOWS QUIS RIDES
Reverse: Heart in the palm of a hand, legend HONOUR with JAMES in small letters beneath the hand
Edge: Plain
Diesinker: Unknown
Manufacturer: Thomas Spence
Rarity: Common
William Pitt the Younger served as Prime Minister while Charles Fox was his political advisory.
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 627b
Davisson E-Sale #6, 27 August 2014