SOUTH CAROLINA. Charleston. Undated (1800) First Presbyterian Church of Charleston, South Carolina Communion Token. Breen-1181, Rulau-E SC 8, Bason SC-392. Silver. Extremely Fine.

27.3 mm, rims 2.5 to 2.6 mm across. 117.1 grains. A really lovely example, nearly as pristine as the day it was made. Both sides are warm pearl gray in color with pleasing iridescent rose and very light blue toning that flashes into view as the token rotates under a light. All engraving sharp, bold and clear, including the communion chalice and loaf on the altar on the obverse, burnish bush on the reverse. Full inscription on the edge PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF CHARLESTON SC 1800. These were created in a curious fashion, with silver planchets struck by blank dies to create the substantial raised rims, then hand engraved on both sides and the edge. Each of these is handcrafted and a bit different. Church records reflect that 300 of these were ordered from England in 1800. Autence Bason counted 14 known specimens in 1989; Breen termed this token "extremely rare." This one and one other that we offered in our (Stack's) Ford II Sale appear to be the only two that Mr. Ford encountered (this one in 1975, the other in 1977). We have sold only one other, the PCGS AU-55 Sydney F. Martin specimen that realized $3,360 in our Spring 2023 Auction. A later version of this type, struck in pewter to be used by African-American parishioners, is rarer still. While these silver pieces were taken as souvenirs from invading Union troops during the Civil War, thus preserving them, the pewter ones were not valuable enough to steal - and save - at the time. Few objects are of such great interest to early American silver collectors and numismatists. These Charleston communion tokens occupy a very special place in the material culture of the Antebellum South. Provenance: From the Ross Family Collection. Earlier ex F.S. Werner, November 17, 1975, obtained in Great Britain; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part II, May 2004, lot 258.