Token Great Britain Evasion KETEC CATVC 1791

Hello Jennifer -- You must have an old evasion farthing from the UK. An evasion coin is one minted by local tradesmen with patterns and inscriptions deliberately different than genuine, legal coinage. The coins were different to minimize the chance of getting in trouble with the authorities. The inscription on your coin, KETEC CATVC (or GATVC), is nonsense. I believe you have an Atkins #452 which has another meaningless inscription EONA ATKNE on the side with the portrait.

The coin in our picture comes from Gary Groll in Corvallis, Oregon, where it is on sale for $125 US dollars, a good price for such a well-preserved token. Usually you see evasion tokens that have been worn to a frazzle, and these are worth far less. Similarly, the gouge in Jennifer's specimen will lower value dramatically. Remember if you have coins or tokens to sell to a dealer, expect offers at about one-half retail value or less. The mark-up is required to keep the dealership solvent. Approximate catalog values are:

worn: $10 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $35
well preserved: $100

There is a listing of some evasion tokens at this web site about Irish tokens. The KETEC CATVC is number 452.

CoinQuest thanks Gary Groll for use of his image. It is a nice one!

Evasion tokens are related to Conder tokens which appear on this CoinQuest page. You will find more information there. Another page with information about evasion token appears here.
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