Owner Comments:
Middlesex Skidmore’s Churches and Gates DH #579
Obverse: A south view of St. James', Duke's Place ST. JAMES'S . DUKE'S-PLACE Ex: B.T. 1622
Reverse: The Skidmore cypher PSCO in script DEDICATED TO COLLECTORS OF MEDALS & COINS . surrounding
Edge: COVENTRY TOKEN
Diesinker: Benjamin Jacobs
Manufacturer: Paul Skidmore
Weight: 16.38g
Rarity: Common
St. James Duke’s Place was an Anglican parish church in the Aldgate ward of the City of London. Due to its location it was outside the control of the Bishop of London. Before the dissolution of the Monasteries in 1531 the area was occupied by the Priory of Holy Trinity, Christ Church. After the dissolution the residents petitioned King James I to build them a church.
Since the church was outside the control of the Bishop of London the church allowed people to get married without the banns being read out in church for three successive weeks beforehand. In addition, parental consent was not required to marry in St. James. Not surprisingly this made the church a very popular place to get married in the 17th century. Some 40,000 marriages were recorded to have taken place in the church between 1644 and 1691.
The church survived the Great Fire of London but fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in 1727. Under the 1860 Union of Benefices Act the church was closed and finally demolished in 1874. The Aldgate School now occupies the site of St. James.
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 444
Bt. Justin Meunier – Boardwalk Numismatics