(1796) Token Die Trial - Myddelton, Uniface

Coin Details

Description

This uniface die trial in copper is associated with Philip Parry Price Myddelton, a Welsh entrepreneur who envisioned establishing a utopian colony in Kentucky during the late 18th century. Myddelton commissioned elaborate token coinage from the renowned Birmingham manufacturer Matthew Boulton, using dies engraved by Conrad Heinrich Kuchler at the Soho Mint in England. The tokens were intended to circulate as local currency in the planned settlement. The obverse design, which is all that appears on this uniface trial, depicts Liberty seated beneath a tree holding a liberty cap on a pole, with the legend "MYDDELTON TOKEN" and the date 1796. Full two-sided Myddelton tokens are themselves extreme rarities — fewer than a dozen are known in copper and two in silver. This uniface die trial, struck from only the obverse die as a test impression before full production, is rarer still. Myddelton's Kentucky colony was never successfully established, making these tokens a fascinating artifact of an unrealized American dream. The piece represents the intersection of British industrial coinage technology and American frontier ambition.

Rarity Notes

Extremely rare. Uniface die trials of the Myddelton token are known in only a handful of specimens, far rarer than the already-scarce finished tokens.

Cross References

Breen-1073; Dalton & Hamer Middlesex 371