Diam. 31 mm brass Conder halfpenny token. [England]: N.p., ca. 1797-1807. Atkins, Tradesmen's Tokens, p. 364, no. 38; D&H, Middlesex 236.
Plain edge. Obverse with a kneeling man in chains with legend, "Am I Not A Man And A Brother." Reverse with legend "Whatsoever / Ye Would That / Men Should Do / To You, Do Ye / Even So To / Them".
A desirable anti-slavery Conder penny token. Probably issued by the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, established by Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson in 1787, who commissioned the original design the next year. First appearing in print in the March 1788 issue of The Gentleman's Magazine, it was widely popularized by Josiah Wedgwood, who produced "Am I Not a Brother and a Man" jasperware cameos in the late 1780s. The first numismatic instance was circa 1794 with a reverse legend with the so-called "Golden Rule" from the King James version of Matthew 7:12. Dalton and Hamer note at least 6 variations (Middlesex 233-238), with slight differences to this design.
Sales of the tokens helped to fund the Society and its anti-slavery mission. The obverse design would go on to be imitated by American Hard Times tokens (HT-81 & HT-82).
An important abolitionist token.
References:
James Atkins. The Tradesmen's Tokens of the Eighteenth Century. London: W.S. Lincoln & Son, 1892.
Kyle Knapp. "Numismatic Impressions of the Abolitionist Movement." The Condor Token Collector's Journal. Vol. XV No. 1, Spring 2010. pp. 27-31.
R. Dalton and S.H. Hamer. The Provincial Token-Coinage of the 18th Century. 1910.
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