102743 | GREAT BRITAIN. Victoria/Keep Your Temper brass Whist Counters (4).

102743  |  GREAT BRITAIN. Victoria/Keep Your Temper brass Whist Counters (4). Issued 1848.

 

All pieces share the same obverse design (VICTORIA REGINA, young head left, wearing bandeau) as well as reverse legend (KEEP YOUR TEMPER). The reverses are split between two different designs (male seated left at table, playing cards; female seated right at table, playing cards).

 

All pieces: Choice Mint State. Highly lustrous and brilliant. Includes metal case. An interesting piece of gaming history, especially so attractive and with original case.

 

Whist is a trick-taking game played in pairs and with a standard "French-style" 52 card deck, immensely popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Countless varieties of the standard game exist, one of which is "Boston" whist, which was played in the west outside of Great Britain and involves an element of bidding to further augment skill in gameplay. Due to the nature of scoring, some form of notation was required, and tokens provided a popular means. The accompanying case displays the method of using the counters for the various scores. Cases or containers such as this allowed the owner to conveniently bring their tokens to the table for use. These sets represent a 19th century analog to a contemporary chip set brought for a spirited night of gameplay.

 

Upload: 1 April 2024.

 

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