Simon68 Posted September 30, 2013 Report Share Posted September 30, 2013 Ok, Have acquired some London Bridge tokens but have a bit of a mystery to solve.... Out of 8 tokens, I have six like this They are brass and state that the carriageway was 33.5 ft wide, length was 782ft, centre arch 150ft, side arch 140ft. On the reverse they say that the first stone was laid by John Garratt Esq, Lord Mayor of London on 14th March 1824 & opened by Their Majesties on 1st August 1831 Ok, one was identical in a white medal, as below, with all the same detail But, and this is where the mystery starts, the last one is also in white metal but states that the carriageway is 36ft, length 923ft, centre arch 152ft. On the reverse it mentions John Garratt but says he laid the first stone on 15th June 1825. It also mentions that the project cost £506,000. Even more perplexing is that in the image of the bridge, St Pauls Cathedral has disappeared!!! Does anyone know anything about these tokens who can offer any information or advice Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 Very interesting. Hope someone comes along with some good info on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 The first pile was driven on the 15th of March, 1824, opposite to the second arch on the Southwark side of the old bridge; and the first coffer-dam having been completed within fourteen months of that time, the first stone was laid on the 15th of June, 1825 (the tenth anniversary of the battle of Waterloo,) by the Lord Mayor (Garratt), in the presence of the Duke of York,- the President and a committee of the Royal Society, and other distinguished visitors, as well as all the city senators and official characters. Changes were made to the original design; the width of the carriage way thirty-six feet(was to be 34 ft.), and of each footpath nine feet(were to be 7 ft.). The lenght 928ft. The centre arch 152 ft. next 2, 140 ft. outer 2 130 ft. add to that the piers 2 @ 24 ft. 2 @ 22 ft. and 2 abutments @ 73 ft. = 922ft. Most likely the engraver just intended to show the bridge & river, not the buildings in the distance, notice he shows the lamp-posts exactly as described; "In order to conclude our description of the bridge, we have only to notice the handsome bronze lamp-posts which are fixed on the parapet walls, one supporting two lamps at each side over the four smaller arches, and one with three lamps at each side over the centre arch. They have been cast by Mr. Parker, of Argyll-street, out of captured cannon brought from his Majesty's yard at Woolwich; their design is elegant, and is displayed to so much the greater advantage, from the total absence of ornament in the masonry" The last medal is factualy correct, in every detail including the 692 ft.(152+140+140+130+130) width of river flow between the 5 arches. The first, unknown, medalist appears to have gathered inaccurate info perhaps from an earlier design, or one of the rejected designs and also confused the first pile being driven with the first stone laying, mind he was a day early as to when the first pile was driven too. The first inaccurate ones are BHM#1547 Br. CC: WM. R. The correct one is BHM#1548 Br. N: WM. N. The mistakes made in the inscriptions on tokens/medals normally have no bearing on their values. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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