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Berkshire Reading, gold 40 Shilling Monck
19th Century Token, struck in gold, Berkshire, gold Forty Shillings Token, 1812, crowned bust of king Alfred left, with sceptre, ALFRED below truncation, date at bottom, legend commences lower left, PIGNORA CERTA PETIS DO PIGNORA CERTA, rev. legend and weight in five straight lines at centre, 40 / SHILLINGS / BERKS TOKEN / STANDD GOLD / 6 DWTS 18 GR, with READING curving below, all within linear circle, legend and outer toothed border surrounding, PAYABLE IN BK NOTES A 6S THE DWT BY I.B.MONCK ESQRE, plain edge, weight 10.42g (Dalton 1; Davis 1). Lightly toned, with some light handling marks and nicks, otherwise a pleasing example of this extremely rare gold token of Forty Shillings, a two pound piece as it were, good very fine.
The Latin obverse legend translate as "You ask for firm assurances, I give you firm assurances" taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses II.
Monck's Reading 40 shilling piece, and Younge & Wilson's half guinea of Sheffield in Yorkshire are the only regular gold issues of the 19th century private token series. It is unlikely that they circulated to any great extent, and the Monck tokens were reported to be selling for £5 to collectors shortly after release. John Berkeley Monck (1769-1834) of Coley Park, Reading, was educated for the Bar, but settled in Reading for health reasons, where he involved himself in the civic affairs of the town. He authored "General Reflections of the Poor Laws" in April 1807 while in confinement from illness, and inherited a sizeable fortune from his Father in November 1809. Having married the sister of an Alderman of Reading in 1810 he bought the Coley Park Estate and in 1812 the Berkshire Estate of Aldworth. In February 1812 he wrote to Spencer Perceval of the "present state of the currency" which led to his own issue of gold 40 Shilling and silver tokens of Halfcrown and Eighteenpence to avert a local currency crisis, which were redeemable in notes at the Reading bank of Marsh, Deane and Company.