*RESERVED* Extremely Rare Georgian Public Execution Souvenir Of Henry Fauntleroy's Infamous Hanging 1824 With Records
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An Extremely Rare Georgian Public Execution Souvenir Of Henry Fauntleroy's Infamous Hanging In 1824, In The Form Of An Inscribed 1791 'Cartwheel Penny' Coin. This Piece Also Includes Some Electronic Records (27 Pages), Which Includes Arrest, Prison And Trial Documentation. As Well As Newspaper Mentions From The Time And A Full Account Of Exactly What Happened Throughout The Scandal.
This Macabre Dedication Is To The Infamous Public Execution Of A Banker Named 'Henry Fauntleroy'. The Coin Records "Fauntleroy 1824 Hanged At Newgate Such 've The Fate Of All Bilking Bankers And Agents". The Wording Is Highlighted In Much Of The Original Chalk Mixture.
Public hangings were a community event, people coming from far and wide to witness the spectacle. Hawkers and travelling pedlars would attend and use the gathering to ply their wares and sell “souvenirs” on the day to spectators, just like this coin.
On November 30, 1824, Henry Fauntleroy, banker and fraudster, attracted the largest crowd ever to attend a public execution in England. The gallows was set up outside Newgate Prison and, such a scandal was the Fauntleroy affair that 100,000 turned up to watch the hanging.
What made this man such a villain that huge numbers of people wanted to see him dance a jig at the end of a rope?
Well... Henry Fauntleroy (12 October 1784 – 30 November 1824) was an English Banker and Forger.
After seven years as a clerk in the London bank of Marsh, Sibbald & Co., of which his father was one of the founders, he was taken into partnership, and the whole business of the firm was left in his hands.
In 1824, the bank suspended payment. Fauntleroy was arrested on the charge of appropriating trust funds by forging the trustees' signatures, including that of 'Lady Nelson', and was committed for trial, it being freely rumoured that he had appropriated £250,000, which he had squandered in debauchery. He was tried at the Old Bailey, and, the case against him having been proved, he admitted his guilt, but pleaded that he had used the misappropriated funds to pay his firm's debts.
He was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. Seventeen merchants and bankers gave evidence as to his general integrity at the trial. After his conviction, powerful influence was brought to bear on his behalf, and his case was twice argued before judges on points of law. An Italian named Angelini even offered to take Fauntleroy's place on the scaffold. The efforts of his many friends were, however, unavailing, and he was hanged in November 1824. Henry Fauntleroy was supposedly buried at Bunhill Fields Burial Ground in a family vault.
However, it was widely rumoured that Henry had escaped strangulation from hanging by inserting a silver tube in his throat prior to the event and went on to live comfortably abroad.
Fauntleroy was one of the last few to be executed for forgery before it ceased to be a capital crime via two parliamentary Acts in 1832 and 1837.
**The Only Other Piece That I've Seen (That Isn't A Bobbin) That Is Of Similar Importance Is A Bone Seal That Was A Souvenir From The Public Execution Of The First British Female Serial Killer, Which Sold At Auction For £2,250 (See Here).**
Condition is good, commensurate with age and use. Structurally sound and it retains its strong and clear inscription.
Measures 3.6cm (diameter)
Weighs 27.39 grams