British Trade Tokens, Tickets and Passes, Numismatic Books

19th Century Tokens, Middlesex [incorporating London], Paddington, Augustus Cove, Halfpenny-sized medalet, 1812, beware of the grand junction canal compy, etc, rev. augustus cove’s publications, etc, 6.70g/12h (W p.239; cf. DNW T6, 514). Obverse dulled, reverse with some toning spots, otherwise extremely fine with much original colour, very rare £150-180

Augustus Cove, a dealer in china and glass, took a lease on a wharf at Paddington basin, but held that he was criminally and unjustly treated by the landowner, the Grand Junction Canal Company. He published a book on his experience, The Tocsin Sounded; being a Case submitted to Sir S. Romilly, proving the Crime of Swindling, Perfidy, &c, &c, transacted upon the property of Augustus Cove, by and through the means of the Grand Junction Canal Company, the first edition of which appeared in 1813; this medalet was used to publicise his plight