The Andrew Macmillan collection of Scottish Communion Tokens

(Scottish Communion tokens sold Simmons Gallery auction MB38 2006-

(Further non-Scottish token sections and Religious medals MB44 2008 current auction)

Pre-1800 Established Church of Scotland Tokens by Brook numbers, mostly lead: reference PSAS Vol. 41, 1906-07, with additional variants, and without duplication. Total 1141 pieces.	? B4055	The simplest form of communion token with just the letter K for kirk
Unpublished Tokens of Church of Scotland (pre-1800) Kerr & Lockie PSAS Vol. 75 Total 158 pieces		DolphintounUS71a (1709)
19^th/20^th Century Church of Scotland Parish Tokens Kerr & Lockie PSAS Vol. 77 Total 1288 pieces		Aberdeen Old Machar - a symbolic type communion token (S20)
Scottish Tokens, other than Established Church, Dick 1902 765 pieces Macmillan notes that "There are many inaccuracies in Dick (including those corrected by PSAS 84.40) and I have noted those picked up from my collection. Some may be alternative varieties… I have mostly ignored variation in measurements.. . and also the presence/absence of quotation marks, hyphens, commas, colons and full stops, as there are many errors(unlike later authors). Where Dick does not make clear that lower case or script or superscription are involved I have not usually commented. I have noted where my specimens are worn and the reading unreliable." As a result, he has corrected the entries for 100 pieces.
Unpublished tokens of various Scottish churches 121 pieces Keir & Lockie PSAS Vol.84
Free Church Tokens 729 pieces Keir & Lockie PSAS Vol.79
Scottish Episcopal Church Tokens 52 pieces Keir & Lamb PSAS Vol.81
Further Unpublished 20 pieces, (see Keir & Lockie, PSAS Vol.87) plus 101 pieces identified Scottish not in above lists ( 47 of which are now listed in Burzinski and 54 other unidentified, not all Scottish and not all communion tokens) plus 14 pieces miscellaneous related items, housed in custom-built, lockable, wooden cabinets with the tokens individually ticketed.		Total 4389 pieces Condition varied but best available obtained in the last 30 years and more. Viewing by arrangement; more information upon request to Simmons Gallery
Click on thumbnail photos for greater detail

Background article

In praise of small things – the Scottish Communion Token

by Frances Simmons

Logie-Easter, Ross B754

The little square of lead in my hand is neither the most beautiful token I’ve handled nor the most valuable in monetary terms. The corners are clipped, with the letters M over KMK punched into it quite crudely. It was made for Mr. Kenneth McKenzie, Minister 1665-1715, of Logie Easter, in Ross and Cromarty. The letter M is the conventional abbreviation for Minister – the other letters are his initials. But the dates are significant for this was a time of religious upheaval in Scotland. It’s a Scottish communion token, one of more than 4000 different types spanning three centuries collected over the last 30 years by Andrew Macmillan – a name familiar to anyone who collects the series. This type of early identity check would have been given only to those who, after an examination by the elders of the kirk and McKenzie himself, were deemed worthy to take communion in remembrance of the Lord’s Supper, and were neither a spy nor a traitor. It could provide safety during the Killing Times of the late 17^th century when church and state were embattled and tens of thousands of people were killed. It controlled the lives of people within their own small communities.

By its very simplicity and the power, this token tells part of a great story of battles between conscience and duty, church and state, Covenanters and Jacobites, and of the Scottish desire for independence from the English. In isolation, it’s a slight piece. But when so many tokens are gathered systematically, mapping the various twists and secessions in the church by town and hamlet, then you have a solid research base from which to make a chronicle.

Urquhart B118a (Elgin), may have been re-used as a beggar's badge.

Communion tokens, although originating in Calvin’s Geneva in the 16^th century, are a particularly Scottish phenomenon, plotting the social and Protestant church history of Scotland over three hundred years and more. The Church of Scotland was reformed along Presbyterian lines in the 16^th century. But with the restoration of king Charles II, state and church were no longer separated in Scotland and England; bishops were reinstated and given a place in government. Presbyterians believed that Christ was the head of the Kirk, not the king, and that spiritual power flows upwards from the kirk (church) elders, not down from the king via the bishops in the Episcopalian tradition. So signing any of the various Scottish National Covenants was seen as an act of treason.

Given the importance placed on examination of conscience and the stress on learning the scriptures prior to taking communion, it is hardly surprising that the two most popular sacred texts mentioned on tokens are This do in remembrance of Me - from the Gospel of St Luke, chapter 22, verse 19, referring directly to the Lord’s Supper, and But let a man examine himself St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. This is usually abbreviated to 1.COR xi.28 - a warning to the would-be communicant to judge himself or be judged harshly by the community and ultimately by God.

F7. Aberdeen Melville Free Church 1867

The communion service might have been held only once or twice a year, especially in the early years of the Protestant Church in Scotland, whether Episcopalian or Presbyterian. It was a very important and solemn occasion for the community. Communion was taken under the form of bread and wine in memory of the Lord's Supper at communal tables set up especially for the occasion, often numbered for sittings as witnessed by the tokens, such as the one for Craigie, Ayr of 1835, with the number 2 punched into it. Normally 10-20 people would gather at a table so numbers up to 4 or 5 are normal. However, another token in the Macmillan collection from Cromarty in Ross, 1883, has the number 49! This is feasible as there are written records of more than 2000 communicants at some services.

Craigie, Ayr, Church of Scotland S264 1835 Cromarty, Ross, 1883 S281 variant.

With so many different tokens needed for the various kirks and ministers, lead, or an alloy like pewter, was an inexpensive and practical material for tokens. Lead has a low melting point so tokens could be made by a local blacksmith. The early tokens were cast, but those of the 19^th century tend to be struck from dies made by professional die-sinkers and engravers, chiefly Kirkwood in Edinburgh. Other materials have been used, such as brass and bronze or in rare cases silver. But lead seems more appropriate. As Cresswell says in his book on World Communion tokens now out of print, it’s “as if to point the lesson that God uses the humble of this world to fulfill His purposes".

The form and style of the token developed gradually, but retained its plainness and functionality. Many of the early tokens simply have the rough initial of the church or minister with perhaps the letter K for kirk (church) on them, the reverse blank. Others are unattributed with simply a letter K. The inclusion of sacred texts, either in full or just chapter and verse came later, with the addition of certain symbols. Some are quite distinctive like the token from North Haven, Shetland, 1809 William Watson Minister, 1809-30; the fish was not only the early Christian church symbol Ichthus but also the economic mainstay of the local community. The community on this most remote Scottish island of Fair Isle at that time numbered almost 400 – now it’s about 70. About 134 islanders emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1861 and the population never recovered.

NorthHaven, Shetland, 1809-30, S1037

The Melrose token is a rebus with a hammer or mell and a rose. Other symbols illustrate the fundamentals of the service, like the token from Aberdeen Old Machar of 1820 with two wine cups and a plate of bread within the square table border.

Melrose rebus, Brook 796

Only Episcopal tokens have the cross and I H S monogram like those from Turriff Aberdeen, and Forfar, Angus 1754, while the Presbyterian tokens very often feature the burning bush with the device nec tamen consumebatur - 'and yet the bush was not consumed', referring to the account of Abraham’s sacrifice. This was the emblem of Presbyterianism and of the Free Church of Scotland in the 19^th century.

With the Disruption of 1843 and the creation of the Free Church of Scotland there was a massive re-issue of tokens. Developments in minting technology meant that stock tokens could be inexpensively made. They were slightly more decorative than before. Some referred to a single area, others were for general use. The oval and the oblong with cut corners dominated but all sorts of shapes were used from triangles to hearts.

By the middle of 20^th century the metal communion token had died out in favour of the communion card. But by this time the practice of issuing communion tokens had been exported to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the USA and wherever Scots had emigrated, taking their religion with them.

The Scottish collection created by Andrew Macmillan is more comprehensive than some more numerous collections as each token is different, noted with variants, and only the highest table number for each church has been retained (noting on the ticket whether a higher number exists elsewhere). Every token is identified, and the provenance recorded with ancillary notes, cross-referencing his collection with those of the Church of Scotland, Burzinski, and Cattanach (the latter two both dispersed). It’s probably the best researched collection in private hands. Until now, most of the research and collecting of this series has been painstaking listing, attribution and correcting previous errors, mainly by ministers of religion and those closely associated with the church. It makes very dry reading. We have the task of finding a new home for this remarkable collection and hope that the eventual buyer will seize the opportunity to use this studiously accumulated knowledge to tell the story of those individuals and communities whose lives are mapped by these unassuming tokens.

Further enquiries on this topic to: Simmons Gallery, PO Box 104, Leytonstone, London E11 1ND, UK Tel: 020 8989 8097 or email

Background reading:

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland - the essays of Brook, Dick, Keir, Lamb and Lockie

Communion tokens of the World Lester Burzinski 1999

Comprehensive Directory of World Communion tokens O D Cresswell 1985

Copyright F Simmons April 2006.

Back to Simmons Gallery website - Tokens currently on offer

MB44-lot 716

A rare commemorative Disruption Brooch of 1843 - only about 40 are known to have survived. They mark the disestablishment of the church in Scotland.