116 Museum AND Art NOTES

Token - Craft

By Rev. Joun C. GoopFELLOW

i

N an indirect way the publication of Museum and Art Notes is responsible for the
| recent donation to the Museum of a number of old Presbyterian Communion

tokens. These were presented together with Rev. G. A. MacLennan’s valuable
brochure on the subject. The donor is Mr. Louis Laurin, of Ottawa, whose name is
on the Museum mailing list. In a letter dated May 27th, addressed to Mr. T. P. O.
Menzies, he writes of the Notes: “I find the transactions of the greatest historical
TMUPOGLANCes + aes I take great pleasure in sending you for your Museum a small lot
of old Presbyterian Church tokens; also a catalogue on tokens, by Rev. George A.
MacLennan, which I hope you will accept with my compliments.” This is one of many
valuable points of contact established by the Museum publications.

Perhaps a note on the literature of the subject should precede any account of the
origin of the token. One might then consider it from the collector's point of view—
as a study, and as a fad. Lastly, the place of the Museum collection in the field of
token-craft should be indicated.

The literature on the subject is not extensive, but probably sufficient. The Rev.
Robert Dick, minister of the U.P. (afterwards the United Free) Church at Colins-
burgh, Fife (Scotland), is regarded as the pioneer of token literature. In his book,
Scottish Communion Tokens, Other Than Those of the Established Church, he has
described 1025 such tokens.

In Birsay Church History, by Rev. A. Goodiellow (published Kirkwall, 1903),
will be found an interesting chapter on the general subject, together with a list of
Orkney tokens, representing five Church connections—Established, United Presby-
terion, Free, Original Seceder, and United Free Churches.

The full title of MacLennan’s book is “The Story of the Old-time Communion
Service and Worship, also the Metallic Communion Token of the Presbyterian Church
in Canada, 1772-....,” by Rev. George A. MacLennan, B.A., Montreal, Que.

Our Museum is fortunate in securing a copy of this valuable book on an interest-
ing subject. The collection described by Mr. MacLennan was presented to the Presby-
terian College, Montreal. In addition to listing and describing the 241 tokens in this
collection, Mr. MacLennan has an interesting chapter on the old-time Communion
Service; also some interesting paragraphs on the origin of the token and its
subsequent history.

I. Origin. In writing of the origin of the token, the logical order is suggested by
the phrase “Metallic Communion Token,” which phrase is used in MacLennan’s
title page.

The token was a small piece of metal. Tokens were of various sizes and shapes
—circular, oval, square and oblong. As a rule, they were made of lead or pewter, but