Undated (ca. 1694) London Elephant Token. Hodder 1-C, W-12020. Rarity-7+. GOD PRESERVE LONDON. Diagonals in Center of Shield, Sword in Second Quarter of Shield. VF-25 (PCGS).Aside from the New England Elephant token, this is the rarest entry in the whole series. Hodder knew of just four: the Unc. Roper coin, the VF Norweb piece that was of similar quality to this one, one in a "major Southwestern collection," and an example at the British Library. Presumably the "Southwestern Collection" was Ford, though none appeared in the Ford auctions. <p><p>This piece shows attractive surfaces, with mottled medium and dark brown on the obverse and some hints of orange-tan on the reverse. The centering is aligned left on the obverse and right on the reverse, with bold denticles at the opposite peripheries. A thin arc hairline scratch is seen on the back of the elephant, and a vertical scratch is noted in the right reverse field. The reverse die is broken at the left border.<p><p>This is an error coin, essentially. The shield of the city of London depicts a dagger in the upper right quadrant, not the upper left. This mistake was apparently quickly rectified, as so few of these are known today. None have been offered in recent years, including in the Craige, Newman, Archangel, Partrick, and Dittmer collections.PCGS# 64.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of March 2009, lot 11; John Agre and Dave Wnuck (Coin Rarities Online), May 2009.
