Owner Comments:
Middlesex Skidmore's Miscellaneous DH #168
Obverse: The front of an ancient building with twin towers and a high central gable surmounted by a weather vane. In the foreground are four posts, the legend WESTMINSTER HALL . BT. 1397. Above. Ex: JACOBS. in small letters
Reverse: A portcullis and scales between crossed oak and laurel branches MIDDLESEX . PENNY . above and 1797 . below
Edge: I PROMISE TO PAY ON DEMAND THE BEARER ONE PENNY X
Diesinker: Benjamin Jacobs
Manufacturer: Paul Skidmore
Rarity: Scarce
Westminster Hall was built in 1097 for William II, at which time it was the largest hall in Europe. It was rebuilt in in 1397 by Richard II. For centuries the building housed the Courts of Justice and was used for coronation pageants and banquets.
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.
Paul Skidmore was the son of Peter. This is from Skidmore's series of 10 ‘Miscellaneous Pennies' that featured well known Provincial buildings. They were issued them in quite small numbers - plus the dies that Jacobs engraved were quite brittle and many broke before the required number was struck. The coins were primarily sold to collectors but in these times of desperate need for copper change they often got into circulation alongside the regal copper and other genuine tradesmen's tokens.
Atkins: Middlesex 5
Heritage Sale 29 April 2025