Tokens from the Late David Griffiths Collection

Numismatists Tokens and Ephemera, WILTSHIRE, Melksham, Fred Jeffery, Halfpenny, 1972, by Toye, Kenning & Spencer, in gold, melksham promissory halfpenny redeemable at within wreath, rev. f.j. jeffery melksham wilts 1932-1972, england’s leading provincial coin dealer around, edge plain, hallmarked Birmingham 1973, 29mm, 22ct, 21.92g/12h. Brilliant mint state and of the highest rarity; only two specimens struck in gold, the other is retained with the Jeffery family £800-£1,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Tokens from the Late David Griffiths Collection.

View
Collection

Provenance: B.M. Greenaway Collection, DNW Auction T4, 13 December 2006, lot 1195 [from R.J. Jeffery April 1998].

Frederick James Jeffery (1907-78), who styled himself as ‘England’s leading provincial coin dealer’, started dealing in coins in 1932. Popularly known as ‘Uncle Fred’ (though not to be confused with Fred Baldwin who also shared the same sobriquet), Jeffery was the first English dealer to regularly attend the American Numismatic Association’s annual convention. His open-style marketing methods and his vast stock ensured that he was well known and he was a fervent supporter of local numismatic societies, often travelling vast distances to a meeting with an estate car laden down with coins and sets to sell to members. His metallic tokens commemorate his 40th year in a business that is carried on today by his son, Richard Jonathan Jeffery; the tokens themselves were struck by Toye Kenning & Spencer in 1973, a decision prompted by the same manufacturer having struck the Wessex Numismatic Society’s Silver Jubilee medal earlier that year, Jeffery being then a prominent member of that Society