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Auction: 18005 - British and Foreign Coins and Commemorative Medals
Lot: 643

(x) Australia, Charles Harrold & Co., Token Halfpenny, c. 1855, Birmingham, st. pauls sq., rev. for alloying gold at centre, refined australian copper surrounds, 28mm. (Museums Victoria ref. NU.4601; Andrews -; Renniks 188; KM Tn.291), a few light pecks in fields, otherwise with lustre in recesses, extremely fine, very rare

Charles Harrold & Co., appear to have used their technical expertise in assaying to exploit the 19th Century gold rushes of Australia and America. By 1863, Charles Harrold had purchased a stake in the North Britain Gold Mining Company, where he is recorded in the New South Wales business' shareholder annals. Similarly in 1880, his company's services were desired for the assaying of ore recently removed from a Colorado mine, confirming the yield to be in the region of £190 per ton. On 31 December 1884, Charles Harrold sold his personal stake in the company to his long term business partner Charles Westwood. Westwood continued silversmithing under the Company auspices at their workshops of 2-3 St Paul's Square, Birmingham with the assistance of his sons until the collapse of the business in 1953.

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Estimate
£800 to £1,000