Owner Comments:
Middlesex Skidmore's Churches and Gates DH #626
Obverse: A south west view of St. Leonard’s, Shoreditch SHOREDITCH CHURCH . B.T. 1731.
Reverse: The Skidmore cypher - PSCO in script DEDICATED TO COLLECTORS OF MEDALS & COINS . surrounding
Edge: COVENTRY TOKEN
Diesinker: Likely Benjamin Jacobs
Manufacturer: Paul Skidmore
Weight: 13.46g
Rarity: Rare
St. Leonard’s was the parish church for Shoreditch, known simply as Shoreditch Church. St. Leonard’s was the actor’s church as actors from The Globe, The Theatre and The Blackfriars Theatre lived in the parish. The original church fell into disrepair and partially collapsed in 1716 and was rebuilt in 1736-40. The date on the token is incorrect. The church is a Grade I 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 480
Bt. Heritage Sale, 13 May 2024