Miami Valley Coin Club

It’s A Token, Not A Bird

It’s Conder, not Condor!

In the later part of the 18^thCentury in the British Empire, including England, Ireland, Anglesey, Wales, and Scotland, there was a shortage of small denomination coinage. Because the government basically ignored the problem, and it became difficult to conduct normal business transactions, private business owners and merchants took matters into their own hands by issuing Conder Tokens. At the time they were referred to as Provincial Coins.

The tokens were re-named after James Conder, who was an early collector and cataloguer of them. Most of these tokens were minted from 1787 to 1804. They resemble our Hard Times Tokens in that many of them carried political captions, denouncing some area of the British government.

Collecting Conder Tokens is becoming more and more popular today. A great number of well-preserved examples can be found. On April 13^th, Smith Family Auctions, a Germantown company, will auction off a number of Conder Tokens. If you have never seen a token like this, or would like to start, or add to a token collection, here’s your chance to find some Conder Tokens close to home.