Miscellaneous Checks, Hampshire, Basingstoke, J[ohn] Soper, Basingstoke Iron Works, 1862, brass (Noble II, 1182); John Soper, Mayor of Basingstoke, copper, 1888-9, both 31mm [2]. Very fine, first better, both rare £30-40

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Tokens formed by the Late David Pottinger.

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Provenance: *First bt J. Whitmore May 1997; second bt S.E. Schwer April 1985).

John Burgess Soper (1821-96), b. Padworth, engineer, inherited his father’s gunsmithing business in 1847 and moved it to Market place. One of the town’s most prominent Non-Conformists, he opened the Basingstoke Ironworks in 1862 and by 1880 had established a depot in London. He owned a number of properties in the town and, as a Gladstonian Liberal, was elected mayor in November 1888. For further details, see Pottinger, Coin News, November 2004