Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals

Theatre and Entertainment, OXFORD CIRCUS, Argyle Street Institution, white metal, 1808, argyle street institution around select assemblies &c 1808, rev. forfeited if transferred around 80 inked on blue central roundel, 40mm, 14.34g (W 1063, this piece illustrated; D & W 64/151b; Young, Entertainments, p.20, this piece). Minor tin pest and some paint missing from central roundel, otherwise very fine and very rare; pierced for suspension £80-£100

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Tickets and Passes of London from the David Young Collection.

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Provenance: Bt Baldwin February 1999.

The Institution, managed by Henry Greville, first opened in 1806 as the Argyll Rooms, when it was known to Byron. It re-opened in 1808 when these tickets were issued. Greville is thought to have engaged mostly Italian singers and performers, but the facility closed in 1810 when he moved to the Pantheon