Auction 85 Highlights

Welcome to Smalls Auctions Sale 85

This sale includes an array of items across a number of collecting fields but concentrating on their historical importance.

There are three researched Love Tokens with a strong connection to Australia’s Convict roots. The tokens are a cruel reminder of lives split asunder by a criminal system that transported petty criminals many children across the globe to an uncertain fate. There is also a good selection of tradesman tokens which were privately issued by businesses to bolster the shortage of circulating currency in the fledgling Australian colonies.

There are a few important historical medals one issued on the death of Daniel Solander the Swedish botanist who accompanied James Cook on his famous first voyage when the Englishman first set eyes on the East Coast of Australia. Although he is now largely forgotten, it was Solander who was central to the scientific rigour applied during the 3-year voyage and was solely responsible for describing over 1300 new species of flora with the innovative ‘binomial’ (two-part) Latin names which are still used today.

There are also three rare tokens relating to the Liverpool Prison Camp in New South Wales where Australians of German heritage were interned during the First World War. Germans made up a significant part of Australia’s population, but when war was declared their ‘Australianness’ was questioned, and many were locked up for the duration of the conflict. Interestingly the remnants of the Australian Concentration Camp are still visible today at Holsworthy Barracks and we have included in the listings a picture taken in recent years by a staff member.

These are just a few of the highlights and we encourage you to carefully study the other lots on offer.

Smalls Auctions