Lot 13
Typical stippled inscription on a smoothed English Penny. Obverse reads "A Token from John Chapman Aged 20 1832" : Reverse inscription reads "When this you see remember me untill (sic) I get my liberty"
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Dimensions:
- Diameter 36mm Exhibited:
- Medals, Commemorative Literature:
- Coins, Monies & Stamps Medium:
- 393 Circa:
- Collectibles Notes:
- Convict Love Tokens have been romantically described as 'postcards before leaving' but they were really sad mementos of relationships torn asunder by the courts and the tyranny of distance. Most were crafted from smoothed English pennies and were inscribed with messages of love from a convict to a wife, lover or family that would most likely never see him again if he received a sentence of transportation. The subject of this token was John Chapman a 'waterman' of Middlesex, a petty criminal convicted in May 1832 of stealing a tea caddy in a shop robbery. After receiving his sentence of 14 years transportation to New South Wales he was sent to the prison hulk 'Retribution' moored at Woolwich where this token would have been fashioned. Chapman bore a tattoo of a woman flanked by the letters 'BC' and 'EP' on his right arm. Who the intended recipient of this token was is unknown, but his parting love is depicted by two kissing doves separated by a heart. Chapman left England on the 'Lord Lynedoch' on the 30th May 1833 arriving in the Colony of New South Wales on the 18th October 1833.
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