Owner Comments:
Middlesex Skidmore's Churches and Gates DH #644
Obverse: A north view of St. Alban's, Cheapside - ST. ALBANS . WOOD ST. B.T. Ex: 1685.
Reverse: The Skidmore cypher - PSCO in script DEDICATED TO COLLECTORS OF MEDALS & COINS . surrounding
Edge: COVENTRY TOKEN
Diesinker: Benjamin Jacobs
Manufacturer: Paul Skidmore
Rarity: Common
An ancient church, it fell into ruin and was torn down and rebuilt in 1634, only to be destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The church was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in the Gothic style of the previous church. Severely damaged by bombing in WW2, only the tower remains. The tower is a Grade II listed building.
The family business of the token manufacturer Peter Skidmore was an iron foundry at 15 Coppice Row in Clerkenwell with a shop at No. 123, High Holborn. Skidmore realized that there was a market for tokens as the genuine tradesmen's pieces of the time were very keenly collected as they were issued. As well as making genuine tradesmens' tokens to order, he also made pennies and halfpennies for sale to collectors of the time - especially series of Buildings Tokens for London.
One of a set of 120 pieces - each portraying a well-known church in or around London.
Atkins: Middlesex 495
Bt. Ernest Latter