The Collection of British Tokens formed by Ivor Bridges

Ivor Bridges

My interest in coins started because my Father, who had served in the Royal Marines in the Second World War and had been posted to the Far East, brought home a group of Japanese occupation notes and a British trade dollar, which he gave to me when I was older. My Mother, meanwhile, collected silver threepences from Christmas puddings, in the days when it was considered good luck to find one in the portion you were served!

Our village churchwarden was a keen collector of British Colonial coins and introduced me to the Bath & Bristol Numismatic Society, which I joined after I left school. In those days meetings sometimes had up to 40 attendees and there were annual club auctions.

I took a break of about 10 years, during which I undertook a five-year apprenticeship, got married and started a building business with my Father. I rejoined the numismatic society in 1969 and have retained my membership in it since.

The majority of my collection was bought from club members when they ceased collecting, or in later years from their estates. The Bath & Bristol NS had a very knowledgeable group of serious collectors, whom I got to know very well. Through them I was able to build up a substantial collection of coins, tokens and paper money which, as my children have no interest in the subject, are now being disposed of through a series of Noonans auctions.

I hope and trust that the new owners of pieces from my collection will derive the same enjoyment from owning them that I have.