1694 Token Elephant - Proprieters God Preserve Carolina

Coin Details

Auction Record

$43,200 MS63BN 10-30-2018 Stack's Bowers

Description

This 1694 Elephant Token features the legend PROPRIETERS GOD PRESERVE CAROLINA on the reverse, the fullest legend variant among the Carolina-type Elephant Tokens. The word PROPRIETERS (an alternate period spelling of "Proprietors") explicitly connects the token to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, the eight English noblemen who received their colonial charter from Charles II in 1663. The obverse displays the familiar elephant facing left, while the reverse carries this expanded legend that provides the most direct historical attribution in the entire Elephant Token series. Struck in copper at approximately 29mm diameter, the Proprieters variety is distinguished from the shorter GOD PRESERVE CAROLINA version by the inclusion of the issuing authority's title. This makes it an unusually informative piece for colonial numismatics, as most tokens from this era provide minimal information about their sponsors. The eight Lords Proprietors included prominent figures such as Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper (later the Earl of Shaftesbury) and Sir John Colleton, and they governed Carolina as a proprietary colony until the Crown assumed direct control in 1729. The PROPRIETERS legend indicates this token was produced specifically to promote the Proprietors' interests in the Carolina colony, as a trade token or promotional piece distributed to potential settlers or investors. The explicit Proprietors attribution makes this variety particularly valuable for documenting the political economy of late seventeenth-century colonial enterprise.

Rarity Notes

Very rare. The Proprieters variety is among the scarcer Carolina-type Elephant Tokens. The explicit Proprietors attribution adds historical significance and collector demand.

Cross References

PCGS #70; NGC #108102; Breen 191; Hodder; Carolina Lords Proprietors 1663-1729; cf. PCGS #73 (Carolina O/E), PCGS #67 (LON/DON)