Exceedingly Rare HT.82. R-8. AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER

[coinsarefun]

I was looking through the Stacks auctions doing some research and saw this one.

It was sold in 2004

This is the companion piece of the HT-81 or HT 81a (smaller diameter)
Originally I posted the HT81a here http://coinsarefun.com/forum/index.php?topic=317.0

This is a link to the auction here http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lsid=AN00000540&asid=AN00000038&lrid=AN00006389
Well worth the reading.

From the Auction:

L.54A, HT.82. R-8. Extremely Fine.

163.6 gns. Good, deep and rich chocolate brown color on both sides. No serious defects requiring mention, just a modicum of handling marks commensurate with the grade of the piece. AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER. Extremely rare: only three are known plus a uniface die trial of the obverse ex Fuld. The other two fully struck specimens include one ex Don Miller Collection in a major Long Island holding and another ex Charles Ricard and Bowers & Merena in the Eric P. Newman Collection (which we believe has been pledged to George Washington University in St. Louis). Low 54A has always been a known rarity of the series missing from Lyman Low's list published in 1906. The common Low 54 shows a female slave in imitation of late 18th century English Conder tokens whose type included a slave and the legend AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER. Those popular tokens were a reflection of the effectiveness of the British Slavery Abolition Society in the 1790s and early 1800s. It is believed that Low 54A was a pattern issue and that the original intention of the maker was to issue an anti-slavery token that showed a male slave on the obverse and the legend AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER that harkened back to the earlier British tokens. For whatever reason, very few of the male slave tokens were ever struck, the obverse type soon being replaced by one showing a female slave. Perhaps it was felt that a woman might evoke more sympathy for the abolitionist cause than a male. Similarity of the reverses between Low 54 and L.54A show the two to have been related. The Low 54A issue clearly does not fall into the category of the so-called Bushnell series. All known specimens show some wear. To the best of our knowledge the first illustration of a Low 54A was in Wayte Raymond's 1940 Standard Catalog, which showed the presently offered specimen. This is one of the highlights of the collection and is of great historical importance.







This is my HT81a

[walmann]

Interesting read.

Also the design modifications (aside from the male/female image) both on the reverse and more so on the obverse. For example how with the male figure the chains go from feet to wrist whereas the female figure the chain goes from ground to wrist. Perhaps again indicating a more sympathic and even less "threatening" image of the female slave.

[coinsarefun]

And then we have its counterpart.......Conder Tokens.
In which the design was based on and came out before the HTT






This one is in white metal

[Larry]

I ran across this while doing some research and compiling my notes on Conder Tokens...

Wedgwood was a prominent slavery abolitionist. His friendship with Thomas Clarkson - abolitionist campaigner and the first historian of the British abolition movement - aroused his interest in slavery. Wedgwood mass produced cameos depicting the seal for the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and had them widely distributed, which thereby became a popular and celebrated image. The Wedgwood medallion was the most famous image of a black person in all of 18th-century art. [4] The actual design of the cameo was probably done by either William Hackwood or Henry Webber who were modellers in his Stoke-on-Trent factory.[5] From 1787 until his death in 1795, Wedgwood actively participated in the abolition of Slavery cause, and his Slave Medallion, which brought the attention of the public to the horrors of the Slave trade, was very effective in bringing public attention to abolition.[1] Wedgwood reproduced the design in a cameo with the black figure against a white background and donated hundreds of these to the Society for distribution. Thomas Clarkson wrote; "ladies wore them in bracelets, and others had them fitted up in an ornamental manner as pins for their hair. At length the taste for wearing them became general, and thus fashion, which usually confines itself to worthless things, was seen for once in the honourable office of promoting the cause of justice, humanity and freedom".[6]

Source:  Wikipedia   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Wedgwood

Just above that on the Wikipedia article, you'll find this...

Wedgwood is credited as the inventor of modern marketing, specifically direct mail, money-back guarantees, traveling salesmen, self-service, free delivery, buy one get one free, and illustrated catalogues.[3]

NOTE:  I would suggest that since the linked page is not long, that we all read it in its entirety.  : )

[walmann]

The type of story which makes you wonder if he hadn't contracted smallpox as child, if the world would never had seen the Wedgewood designs, this is on the premises he would have concentrated on actual pottery making, instead of designs.

[BCNumismatics]

COOL COIN!

Aidan.