Hall's Sir Jeffery Dunstan Taxidermist London Halfpenny 1795

SOLD

Thomas Hall’s London (Middlesex) copper halfpenny token dated 1795. Obverse: Full view of a dwarf with legend: “SIR. JEFFERY DUNSTAN MAYOR OF GARRAT”. Reverse: Legend on four lines in centre and around periphery: “TO BE HAD AT THE CURIOSITY HOUSE CITY ROAD * NEAR FINSBURY SQUARE LONDON 1795”. Plain edge. Jeffery Dunstan, a travelling dealer in old wigs, was elected Mayor of Garrat, a small village in Surrey, in 1781 when they had a tradition of mock elections. He was superseded by a muffin seller, "Sir" George Cook, and died from over drinking in 1797. Hall, a taxidermist, employed him as a huckster to advertise his exhibition of stuffed animals. Nice collectable condition, see photograph.

D&H Middlesex No: 315c. Diameter 31.1mm. VF+. £75.00

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