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Lot Essay
Trade tokens were legally struck in order to combat the acute shortage of low value coinage. Shopkeepers had the coinage privately struck and they were only used to purchase other goods in that particular shop. There are very few extant examples of Knibb's tokens.
John Knibb (1650-1722) was the younger brother of Joseph (1640-1721) to whom he was apprenticed in Oxford in about 1664. At the age of twenty, when Joseph left for London, John took charge of the Oxford business, and in 1673 upon payment of a fine he received the Freedom of the City. There have been may opinons expressed that John may have helped Joseph's London workshops. The comparatively small output of Oxford clocks and the fact that John had no fewer than ten apprentices might suggest that much of the workshop's energy went towards working for Joseph.
The present example would not appear to support this theory but nevertheless it is evidence (if evidence were needed) that the two workshops collaborated closely.
John Knibb (1650-1722) was the younger brother of Joseph (1640-1721) to whom he was apprenticed in Oxford in about 1664. At the age of twenty, when Joseph left for London, John took charge of the Oxford business, and in 1673 upon payment of a fine he received the Freedom of the City. There have been may opinons expressed that John may have helped Joseph's London workshops. The comparatively small output of Oxford clocks and the fact that John had no fewer than ten apprentices might suggest that much of the workshop's energy went towards working for Joseph.
The present example would not appear to support this theory but nevertheless it is evidence (if evidence were needed) that the two workshops collaborated closely.