Owner Comments:
Middlesex Skidmore's Churches and Gates DH #587a
Obverse: A south west view of St. Giles' church ST. GILES'S . IN . THE . FIELDS. B.T. Ex: 1733.
Reverse: The Skidmore cypher PSCO in script DEDICATED TO COLLECTORS OF MEDALS & COINS . surrounding
Edge: Plain
Diesinker: Benjamin Jacobs
Manufacturer: Paul Skidmore
Rarity: Common
St. Giles was the patron saint of lepers. The original church was built as a chapel to a hospital for lepers founded in 1102 by Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I. That building was torn down in 1623. The construction of this building began in 1730. Later the surrounding ground was raised by eight feet and the church was eventually torn down.
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 452