6D South African Token: Union Steamship Co. (Extremely Scarce)

According to Hern’s catalogue on South African Tokens, this piece catalogues at R1 150.00 in Fine condition and an amazing R1 450.00 in Very Fine condition.

The example you are bidding on is in at least Very Fine condition.

The Union Steamship Company was formed in 1853 and it provided a service from Southampton to Cape Town via The Ascension Islands and St. Helena. From 1857 they had Mail contracts with a steaming time of 42 days. Some collectors assumed the tokens were used in Southampton, but there is no evidence for this. South African collectors claim them for paying casual labour during the second half of the 19th Century. They were probably made in England. (Source: A talk to the London Numismatic Club given by John Roberts-Lewis)

See following picture of this extremely scarce token that catalogues for at least R1450.00 (See also Hern’s SA Token Catalogue Page 232) …