Norfolk Tokens from the Collection of the Late Keith Freeman
Please note that images are not actual size.
The 30 November auction will include the collection of nearly 300 Norfolk tokens formed by the late Keith Freeman. Formed over many years, the collection is strong in 17th century issues. They were mostly acquired from local dealers and country auctions during the 1970s and 1980s, though some scarcer pieces were purchased from the London dealers A.H. Baldwin and B.A. Seaby. There are also a few rare tokens from the T.A. Jan collection sold at Spink in February 1983 and April 1984 and the D.L. Cornell collection sold at Christie’s, 18 February 1986.
Keith Freeman, well known for being ‘a straight man in horse-racing’, was renowned the world over as one of the most successful bloodstock agents of the post-war era. Among the many people he advised and selected horses for were Her Majesty the Queen, H.H. the Aga Khan, and Sir Winston Churchill. He considered the sourcing and collecting of tokens relating to his native county Norfolk a wonderfully interesting hobby to offset the stress of his work, and derived a somewhat fascinated pleasure locating the tokens and imagining the circumstances in which they were used.
Among the 17th century tokens are the following:
Aldeby, Phillip Robarts (W.2), some spots of corrosion otherwise very fine, rare
Bawdeswell, Thomas Bowrne 1667 (W.11), some spots of corrosion otherwise nearly very fine, very rare
East Harling, John Hilton 1660 (W.39), fine, rare
East Harling, Thomas Young (W.-), only good but legible, very rare
Forncett St Peter, Robert Plowman 1668 (W.46 var.), very fine, very rare
Hingham, William Rix 1659 (W.56), small crack, otherwise about very fine, rare
Loddon, Henry Burrough 1667 (W.61), very fine, rare
Lynn Regis, John Howard 1660 (W.87 var.), good fine, rare
New Buckenham, Francis Watts 1657 (W.109), good fine, rare
Norwich, Thomas Greene 1658 (W.146), about very fine, rare
Norwich, John Mayes 1667 ()W.168), good fine, rare
Norwich, Mathew Soulter (W.202), very fine, rare
Article and images courtesy of http://www.spink.com
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