1694 Token Elephant - Thin Planchet

Coin Details

Auction Record

$23,500 MS63 01-01-2013 Stack's Bowers

Description

This 1694 Elephant Token on a thin planchet is the lighter-weight variant within the Elephant Token series, distinguishable from its thick planchet counterpart by a noticeably thinner copper blank. The obverse features the characteristic elephant facing left, while the reverse carries the associated design for this type. At approximately 29mm in diameter but struck on a thinner flan, the token has a lighter weight and sometimes shows weaker central design details where the thinner metal did not fully fill the deepest portions of the dies during striking. The thin planchet variety represents one of the primary physical variants in the Elephant Token series and is important for understanding the production technology and commercial decisions behind these enigmatic colonial tokens. Thinner planchets required less copper per piece, which would have been economically significant for a production run of any meaningful size. The reduced thickness might also indicate that these tokens were intended to circulate more like halfpennies than like heavier trade tokens. The Elephant Token series, produced in the 1690s during a period of intensive English commercial expansion into the Americas, Africa, and Asia, reflects the era's complex web of colonial trading companies, proprietors, and merchants who all had interests in providing circulating media for colonial commerce. The thin planchet Elephant Token is slightly more common than the thick planchet version but remains a rare and desirable colonial piece.

Rarity Notes

Very rare, though slightly more available than the Thick Planchet variety. Approximately 40-60 examples survive.

Cross References

PCGS #58; NGC #108098; Breen; Hodder; cf. PCGS #55 (Thick Planchet), PCGS #67 (LON/DON)