E-Auction 49 Lot 227

Devonshire. County. Copper twopence. 41 mm. 1801. View of the Eddystone Lighthouse; DEVONSHIRE PRIVATE TOKEN in small letters just below the base; S. VIEW OF THE EDYSTONE. LIGHTHOUSE. COMPLEATED OCR 9, 1759. BY. I. SMEATON. around. (Devonshire) / Another lighthuse view; W. UPCOTT DES MAY 1801 in small print just below the base; VIEW. OF. THE HIGH. LIGHTHOUSE. ON. THE. SPURN. POINT. COMPLEATED. AP. 7. 1777 around. (Yorkshire). Davis 21 (R,r). PCGS MS64BN (48342448). Choice piece. Very Rare. (The highest graded example graded by PCGS, tied with two others.)

Featuring two famous Devonshire lighthouses, this large and popular, high relief and finely detailed piece was struck by W. Upcott, a book dealer and antiquarian, for sale to collectors. Both the 1759 Eddystone Lighthouse and the 1777 Spurn Point Lighthouse were designed by the civil engineer John Smeaton.

From an email sent to our email subscribers on June 21st:

One piece offered in the current sale deserves comment both for its fascinating story and because it is in such exceptional condition. (Lot 227, Davis 21, Extremely Rare, and tied for the finest known PCGS certified example.) The Eddystone Lighthouse is still operating on a 12 mile reef off the southeast coast of England at a point just before the English Channel, where rocky shores off the coast of France pose a danger from the other side to ships. The lighthouse warns sailors of the rocks, particularly at low tide. The token obverse features the third lighthouse, built in 1759 and serving until 1878. (The reverse features the Spurn Point Lighthouse on the point of land jutting out from the Yorkshire coast and marking the north end of the English Channel.) The relief is so high on both sides of the token that, as Taylor said at the time, “it required numerous blows to bring it well up.” As a consequence, the dies had to go through repeated repairs and annealings. This piece has especially attractive surfaces and a sharp rim. (I could not find a record of the actual numbers struck, but the number is small because “the repeated annealing of the dies rendered this tedious and expensive.”)

This is a particularly attractive example from the first striking. The key indication is that the ship to the right of the lighthouse on the obverse has ocean waves below it. William Taylor (1802-1885), a Birmingham medallist known for his restrikes of Boulton’s Soho Mint issues, subsequently used the dies for a few restrikes.  The dies had been repaired and Taylor examples show the ship without water to buoy it. After Taylor used them for a few restrikes (including one in silver), the dies ended up with George Chetwynd who sent them to Birmingham to be used for yet another restrike, but they broke in half.

(Notes and quotes from BNJ Volume I (1904) and a letter from Benjamin Nightingale writing in 1847, cited in Spink 51, 16th April 1986.)

The Eddystone Lighthouse shown on the token was designed by John Smeaton, known as England’s “Father of Civil Engineering” for his remarkable innovations in designing this structure to survive in its extremely challenging environment. Made of Cornish granite and Portland stone, his iconic lighthouse utilized dovetail joints and quick-drying cement to handle the seawater. His radical new design was built into the rock itself, and included a sweeping curve at the base to enhance stability. The clever shape was inspired by England’s mighty oak tree trunk with its heavy base and low center of gravity.

My attraction to the Eddystone Lighthouse predates my knowledge of the token. The Eddystone Lighthouse inspired a famous English folk ballad and sea shanty sung by singers such as Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. I grew up liking Pete Seeger’s rendition with the Weavers that begins: “Well, my father was the keeper of the Eddystone Light….”

Allan Davisson