Baldwin's on John Skidmore's 1795 Token and His Son Paul's Trail to America
On September 9, 2023, the London dealer A. H. Baldwin & Sons featured a 1795 halfpenny token of ironmonger John Skidmore alongside notice of an auction scheduled for October 11, 2023. The post says the "P" on Skidmore's tokens appears to refer to his son Paul, and reports recent research that Paul went to America and started Louisville's first iron foundry in 1812. Its first part, however, says it is not certain that the Paul Skidmore later reported in Louisville is the same man.
Correction (Oct 13, 2026): We rewrote the headline, summary and body to match the source. We removed unsupported claims that Skidmore was a counterfeiter, passages on chemical analysis, XRF and wear-based authentication, price ranges and appreciation outlooks, comparisons with Boulton and other makers, and investment advice, and stated the details of the 1795 token, the auction scheduled for October 11, 2023 and the life of his son Paul, including the inconsistencies within the post, as the source gives them. The previous headline was "Skidmore's 1795 Half-Penny: How Georgian Counterfeits Expose Modern Authentication Gaps."
This article is based on a blog post published by the London dealer A. H. Baldwin & Sons on September 9, 2023. The post also promoted an auction scheduled for October 11, 2023.
Baldwin's announced that it would hold an auction of late eighteenth-century token halfpennies on October 11, 2023, at its premises at 399 Strand, London. Bidders could take part in person, by phone or online through the company's website.
The 1795 Halfpenny Token
The post opens with a 1795 halfpenny token of John Skidmore, an ironmonger and token manufacturer in Holborn and Clerkenwell, London. The obverse shows two men working at a forge, and the reverse shows an iron fire-grate. The edge is diagonally milled. It measures 29.5mm and weighs 9.97g, and is catalogued as DH 480. Baldwin's described it as struck with almost full lustre. The post lists it at £90-140.
Skidmore's Business and His Tokens
According to the post, Skidmore sold fire grates and stoves at his showrooms at No. 123 High Holborn. They were made at his iron foundry in Coppice Row, Clerkenwell. As a sideline he began making and selling tokens, and in 1795 he issued his own halfpenny token advertising his business.
Skidmore generally used Charles James as his die engraver. From 1795 to 1797 he issued many tokens, which he sold to collectors of the day. Dies were often mixed to create new varieties, known as "mule" tokens.
The post notes that Skidmore was once described as "one of the most reprehensible dealers of the time." It does not explain the reason for that description.
Who Was "P"?
Most of Skidmore's medallic issues carry the monogram "PSC0" or the name P Skidmore. According to the post, the "P" was long assumed to stand for Peter, but no one of that name exists in the Skidmore family. The post says the token side of the business appears to have been run by his second son, Paul, who is the P in the PSCo cypher.
Skidmore was born in Kingswinford, Staffordshire, in 1739. By 1784 he was listed as having a stove and grate business in Clerkenwell. He and his wife Nancy had six children, and the eldest, Meremoth, was taken into partnership in 1795.
Paul Skidmore in America
Paul Skidmore was born on December 22, 1775, and baptised at St James, Clerkenwell, on February 4, 1776. In December 1789 he was apprenticed to Samuel Gray, a bricklayer and tyler. A letter he wrote to the Royal Society of Arts in March 1796 shows an interest in art. After that, the trail goes cold. He is not mentioned in his father's will of August 1822, and it was presumed that he had died before his father.
The later part of the post reports that recent research has shown Paul went to America, and traces his life as follows. In June 1798 he was trading with his brother as P&G Skidmore at 222 Pearl Street, New York, selling jewellery and metalware imported from England. The business was unsuccessful. The post says that by 1801 Gamaliel had returned home. Paul faced a number of court cases for debt, which led to his bankruptcy.
Paul reappears over 700 miles away in Montgomery County, Kentucky, in 1805, and the following year he was at the Bourbon Furnace in nearby Bath County. He moved via Lexington to Louisville, where he started the city's first iron foundry in 1812. The post says the foundry was successful. In 1815 he married Matilda Frances Gwathmey, the daughter of a prominent local businessman.
The post says Paul was the architect of "Farmington," a Jefferson-style historic house built in 1816 that still stands and is open to the public. His will was signed on December 4, 1817, in New Orleans, and he died there shortly after. The New York Evening Post of January 24, 1818, reported his death somewhat inaccurately as "At Louisville, Paul Skidmore, native of London."
The two parts of the post do not agree. The first part says Paul went to New York with his brother Meremoth. It also says it is not certain what Paul did afterwards: whether he is the Paul Skidmore reported a few years later as living in Louisville, Kentucky, or whether he had died. The research section treats the Louisville man as Paul. It does not name the brother who traded with him in New York, but the firm was called P&G Skidmore, and it names Gamaliel as having returned home by 1801.
Source: A. H. Baldwin & Sons, "John Skidmore – one of the most reprehensible dealers of the time" (September 9, 2023).
Read next
Weekly Market Intelligence
Weekly rare coin intelligence — auctions, price action, and analysis, delivered via LINE.
Free · Instant · Block anytime