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The E-Sylum: Volume 23, Number 32, August 9, 2020, Article 16

THE KING'S PRIVATE ROAD PASSES

Over on the Colonial Coins mailing list this week Bruce H. Smith posted a note about a couple interesting recent acquisitions. -Editor

King's Private Roads Pass - Contemporary Counterfeit 1
King's Private Roads Pass - Contemporary Counterfeit 2

I'll introduce a topic that, while period, isn't colonial; King's Private Roads passes. I had never heard of them until I noticed a run of them in the last CNG sale. I bought a lot consisting of two counterfeits. Antony Wilson of York Coins describes them on his site as follows:

"The King's Private Road ran between the two royal palaces of St. James's Palace, to the west of the City of London to Hampton Court further upstream on the Thames at Richmond, a distance of about 11 miles.. The route is presently followed by the current line of the King's Road in Chelsea, in the later seventeenth century and eighteenth century the road ran through fields and market gardens growing produce for the London urban market.

The regal name given to the road dates from the reign of Charles II (1660-1685) who made it a private road closed to public transport. During the reign of George II limited access to the route was given to local tenants and notables with passes being made available for a modest fee. Fees from the sale of passes were used to pay the gatekeepers employed to regulate traffic on the road and for the road repairs. "

These were Lot 597 in the York Coins inventory. So the counterfeit passes were I guess the 18th century equivalent of an inflatable doll for the passenger seat enabling free admission to the carpool lane. Neat items, genuine or counterfeit. -Editor

Craig McDonald pointed to a group of these passes at the British Museum:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/search?agent=King%27s%20Private%20Roads

Jeff Rock added:

"There have been several talks on these at the Token Congress in the UK - they are popular, as are theater tokens (same concept, the token is bought or given to a favorite and they get into see any play, any time - some of the theaters are still in existence 200+ years later, and I've often wondered what would happen if I took one of the tokens in! Most were for the year or season, but some were lifetime passes). They are definitely cool items, but as I've always said, one is an oddity, two is a trend, three is a collection. You are right at the edge!

"if I remember right the BM got the Montague Guest collection as a donation, which was one of the largest ever formed. There's a catalogue of that collection which was pretty much a reference work for the better part of a century. The series is covered in the Withers Token Book 3."

Craig McDonald writes:

"And here's a blog with some good info, including the names of the individuals whose initials appear between the numerals of the date.."
Topic: KINGS PRIUATE ROADS bronze pass (http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php?topic=16908.0)

Bruce notes that another group of King's Private Road tokens begins at Lot 586 in the Classical Numismatic Group's recent eAuction 473. Thanks. -Editor

To visit the York Coins site, see:
http://www.yorkcoins.com/

To view the CNG lots, see:
https://auctions.cngcoins.com/auctions/4-MVFEK/electronic-auction-473?limit=48&jump_to_lot=586

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Wayne Homren, Editor

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