17th Century Tokens from the Collection of Quentin Archer

Middlesex (Metropolitan), Covent Garden, G[eorge] G[ascoigne], Farthing, 1.16g/6h (N 8680 obv., different rev.; BW. 739); W[illiam] L[ong], Farthing, 1.06g/6h (N 8683, this piece; BW. 740); V.M.M. at the rose and crown, Farthing, 1.01g/6h (N 8684; BW. 741); W[illiam] S[heares], Farthing, [16]58, 0.78g/6h (N –; BW. 745); W[illiam] S[heares] and I.N., Farthing, 1660, 1.51g/7h (N 8679; BW. Uncertain 73) [5]. N 8684 fine, others in varied state, first and fourth extremely rare £80-£100

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, 17th Century Tokens from the Collection of Quentin Archer.

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Provenance: N 8679 bt N. Mills September 2011; N 8680 var Norweb Collection, B. Bird Collection, Spink Auction 35, 11 April 1984, lot 288 (part), SCMB March 1985 (M 30), bt M.J. Dickinson September 2014; N 8683 H.W. Taffs Collection, Glendining Auction, 21-3 November 1956, lot 867b (part), R.A. Nott Collection, Norweb Collection, Spink Auction 212, 28-9 March 2012, lot 668 (part); N 8684 bt N.A. Clark February 2007; BW. 745 bt July 2003.

J.H. Burn (1855) noted that the Crossed-keys Tavern was in Bedford Street, between Henrietta Street and King Street. George Gascoigne is mentioned in the rate books for 1657. Samuel Pepys visited the Rose Tavern on at least three occasions, and wrote of drinking “burnt wine at the Rose tavern door” on Christmas Eve 1667. William Sheares (†1662), stationer and bookseller, lived at the sign of the Bible in Bedford Street