"1781" AE Token North American, BN MS(PCGS#589)
"1781" AE Token North American, BN MS (PCGS#589)
November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins
- Auctioneer
- Stack's Bowers
- Lot Number
- 1450
- Grade
- AU50BN
- Price
- 528
- Lot Description
- 120.8 grains. Though dated 1781, the North American token is thought to actually date to the 1810-1820 period, as evidenced by circa 1820 Canadian tokens of similar design and fabric as well as punch linkage (discovered by Doug Winter, now known as a U.S. gold coin specialist) to Irish tokens from the second decade of the 19th century. Winter also theorized that the 1781 date commemorated Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown, though we find this strange for a token whose chief circulation was in Canada, the land to which loyalists escaped the Revolution!