7/8/25 3:36 PM
Gold: $3,301.85
Silver: $36.72
Platinum: $1,368.91
Palladium: $1,108.83
G/S: 89.92
Pt/G: 0.41
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map11005 Olive Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63141
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Lot #: Go
Lot Title: Circa 1800 Antislavery Iron Tobacco Box, plus Conder token D&H 1038b and Hard Times token HT 81
Lot Number: 841
Description: R.R. Consignment. Cast iron box probably made in Coalbrookdale, England displaying Josiah Wedgewood's supplicant slave motif adopted by the "English and Foreign Antislavery Society" and used in England and America from the 1790s through the 1830s. This icon is used on all three pieces.

The coins feature the familiar AM I NOT A MAN/WOMAN & A BROTHER/SISTER phrases, while the box simply states HUMANITY. Conditionally, the tobacco box grades Choice Extra Fine with natural dark patina. D&H 1038b is an AU with tinges of Red. The HT 81 is Very Fine to Extra Fine. This lot also includes a letter from Dr. J.W. Root (1845-1922) of Kilbourne, Illinois, stating his belief the coins were used as access passes on the Underground Railroad, and the box as a safe for these coins. Dr. Root was a Union Civil War veteran. The irony is that this tobacco box uses an antislavery motif even though tobacco was a slave grown crop.

Our research found a single identical box was sold in 2004 in a Rancho Santa Fe, California, sale as lot 474. A similar but lesser condition box is included in the Michael Graham-Stewart Collection of Slavery: Art, Artifact, and Archives at the National Maritime Meseum in Greenwich, England. Box, coins, letter, and filler as found during rehabbing of an old home in an Illinois river town on the banks of the Mississippi River (scotia).
Estimate: $3,000-$5,000
Lot Status: Bidding has been closed for this lot.
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Hammered Price: $1,900
Price Realized: $2,185

Please Note: An 18% Buyers' Premium is added to the hammer price of all lots in this sale.

This lot may contain an item not certified by ANACS, PCGS, or NGC. While Scotsman Auction Co. is typically conservative in our descriptions of items not certified by one of these companies, we cannot guarantee our grading estimation will match their grade. We highly recommend that collectors seeking items certified by a third-party grading service only bid on items that have already been certified. No lot can be returned because of a variance in judgment with regards to grade.
Circa 1800 Antislavery Iron Tobacco Box, plus Conder token D&H 1038b and Hard Times token HT 81
Circa 1800 Antislavery Iron Tobacco Box, plus Conder token D&H 1038b and Hard Times token HT 81
Circa 1800 Antislavery Iron Tobacco Box, plus Conder token D&H 1038b and Hard Times token HT 81
Circa 1800 Antislavery Iron Tobacco Box, plus Conder token D&H 1038b and Hard Times token HT 81
Circa 1800 Antislavery Iron Tobacco Box, plus Conder token D&H 1038b and Hard Times token HT 81
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