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Auction: 23129 - Spink Numismatic e-Circular 33: British and World Coins - e-Auction
Lot: 10066

The Removal of Temple Bar from the City of London, Lead Uniface Medal, 1878, by Foot and Tebay after C. H. & J. Mabey, TEMPLE BAR: ERECTED 1672. DEMOLISHED 1878: THIS EFFIGY OF IT WAS STRUCK FROM THE LEAD FORMERLY ON THE ROOF., elevation of the decorative facade, 113mm, 0.88kg (Eimer 1658; BHM 3051; Taylor 37a), mounted under glass and within brass frame for use as a paperweight, some minor marking to reverse, otherwise as struck

The Temple Bar was a gateway in Fleet Street which represented the western limits of the city of London and when it first appeared in 1293 it was little more than a chain between two posts. By 1351 a gate had been built and in 1760 Sir Christopher Wren designed a new Temple Bar with a central arch for carriages and pedestrian gateways either side. By 1672 it was built and the gates are recorded as being closed to citizens only once, during the 'Wilkes and Liberty' Riots of 1769 when the 'Battle of the Bar' took place. In 1806 it was restored and covered in black velvet for the funeral of Admiral Lord Nelson. Despite years of threatened demolition, Temple Bar survived until 1878 when it as agreed that its narrowness has become a hazard to traffic and the new law courts were built. The first of over one thousand bricks were removed on 2nd January 1878, on the instructions of the Corporation of London, every stone, brick and beam was carefully numbered and stored in a yard of Farringdon Road. Ten years later these were purchased by Sir Henry Meux, the London brewer and MP. He re-erected the bar at the entrance to grounds of his Hertfordshire estate, Theobald's Park.



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Estimate

Starting price
£140