(1859) Token Maryland Denarium Idler Copy, Kenney-2

Coin Details

Auction Record

$360 MS65BN 03-31-2021 Stack's Bowers

Description

This 1859 token is a copy of the famous Maryland Denarium, cataloged as Kenney-2 in the reference for William Idler's numismatic copies. The original Maryland Denarium, or Lord Baltimore Shilling, is one of the rarest and most desirable colonial American coins, struck in England around 1659 under the authority of Cecil Calvert, Second Baron Baltimore and Proprietor of Maryland. William Idler, a Philadelphia coin dealer and die sinker active in the 1850s and 1860s, produced a series of copies of rare colonial coins for sale to collectors who could not obtain originals. Idler's copies were not intended to deceive but rather to supply the growing collector market with affordable representatives of unobtainable colonial rarities. The Kenney reference catalog documents all of Idler's known productions, with Kenney-2 designating this as the second variety in the Maryland Denarium copy series. Idler's dies were hand-engraved interpretations of the originals rather than transfer copies, giving them a slightly different character that experienced numismatists can distinguish from genuine specimens. The Maryland Denarium copies were among Idler's most popular products, as the originals were already valued at substantial sums by the 1850s and only a handful of genuine examples were known.

Rarity Notes

Idler copies are collectible in their own right as examples of mid-nineteenth century numismatic craft. Kenney-2 is moderately scarce with approximately 50-100 examples surviving.

Cross References

PCGS #534656; Kenney-2; William Idler copy of Maryland Denarium; related to Lord Baltimore coinage c.1659