Leech Merchant

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I acquired the illustrated token more than 40 years ago at an antique market in Charlotte, North Carolina. To justify his asking price of $1, the seller informed me that it was rare, and I thought it would be rude to haggle. In retrospect, that was a smart decision.

Although hard rubber tokens were among my collecting interests at the time, this one was decidedly different. On the obverse (or reverse, depending on your perspective) of the black 25.5mm piece, which is holed at the top as made, the inscription reads R.P. NEGUS/& CO/LEECH/MERCHANTS/MELBOURNE, while the other side states HAVANA/SEGAR/AGENCY. 

Odd Combination 

The Melbourne merchant’s business was especially interesting because I had never seen a token or medal issued by a leech merchant, and the combination of leeches and cigars seemed bizarre. The 1,146-page reference Medicina in Nummis, written by Horatio Robinson Storer and published in 1931, lists a French silver medal issued in 1845 by the Society for the Breeding of Leeches as number 6768. Other than that, the only listing is number 8002, which gives a partial obverse description of what was most likely my token. Storer obviously hadn’t seen it, since he didn’t describe its reverse. In 1954 The Numismatist published, in serial form, George and Melvin Fuld’s “Tentative Listing of Hard Rubber Store Cards, Tokens, and Medals.” Included as number 297 was the same partial description in Storer’s book.

A supplement to Alfred Chitty’s 1912 Outline Catalogue of Copper and Bronze Australasian Tokens was published in 1918. The Negus token was listed as number 25 in the section titled “Pieces having some value but not tokens.” For some reason it isn’t listed in Arthur Andrews’s Australasian Tokens & Coins, which was published three years later, even though he cites the Chitty work in his bibliography. I also checked the 2012 Renniks Australian & New Zealand Tokens Values but didn’t find it listed there either.

Criminal History 

My initial efforts to learn about the issuing merchant were unsuccessful. But thanks to the Internet, research is now a lot easier than when I acquired the token. Robert Patterson Negus was born in Philadelphia County on April 28, 1838. His father, James Engle Negus, was employed at the U.S. Mint, and he made the news in 1854 when an article titled “The Defalcation at the Philadelphia Mint” was published in the May 27 issue of The New York Herald.

James, who had been working as the receiving teller for about four years, was the custodian of the gold dust deposited for refining. As described in the article, 

“When the gold dust was in his charge, and before delivering it to the smelter, he was in the habit of abstracting from each deposit an amount which he took care should be small enough to escape detection, as the loss in melting varies from 3 to 10 per cent.”

When the thefts were finally detected, Negus and his family fled the country, presumably with a substantial amount of gold, and settled in England.

During his lifetime, Robert Negus was involved in a variety of commercial ventures. His leech business, which assured him a degree of numismatic immortality, was evidently quite successful. A lengthy article in the December 25, 1868, Register News-Pictorial of Adelaide, South Australia, reported that the ship Red Jacket was carrying “an immense number of leeches” to a company in London. The shipment comprised 11 cases, each nearly a square yard and weighing 500 pounds. It was pointed out that “the Mssrs. Negus have long been engaged in the trade, and annually export hundreds of thousands to various parts of the world.” This suggests that more than one member of the family was involved in the company and that Robert’s father possibly financed the business, using his ill-gotten gold dust gains.

Business Expansion

By 1868 the sale of leeches wasn’t Robert’s only business. “R. P. Negus & Co., Importers, Melbourne” was a wholesale agent for Gillman’s patent medicines and a variety of Dr. Seth Arnold’s quack medicine products. His company, located at No. 1 Collins Street, also offered oak pipe stems, kerosene, tobacco products, soaps and other toilet articles, and even “American trotting buggies and harness.”

The initial focus of my research was the cigar business, and I found numerous newspaper advertisements placed by Wolff, Phillips & Company, who extensively promoted its Havana Segar Agency in London during the mid-1860s. It claimed to have the best selection of Havana cigars in the country, with nearly 300 kinds in stock. I assumed there was a connection between Negus and this company but was unable to find one. However, I eventually found an ad placed in 1868 in a Melbourne paper for “Havana Cigar Agency, R. P. Negus & Co.” at the Collins Street address. It offered “the finest collection of best brands,” and a couple of the brands were also listed in the London company’s ads.

In 1873 Robert announced the opening of his Havana Cigar Saloon on Collins Street. His “extensive premises” were located across the street from the Bank of Victoria. One of the cigar brands listed was the R.P.N., which was described as being “now all the rage.” Attached to the saloon was a lounge and a lavatory, which during that time was an uncommon convenience. 

Appropriately enough, considering his father’s background, Robert became involved in gold mining in the late 1860s. In August 1869 he filed an application for his company “Stars and Stripes” to mine a 40-acre parcel of land. Four months later, in an advertisement offering shares of stock in the Mangana Gold Mining Company, he was listed as a managing director. 

While on a visit to New Zealand, Robert met Mary Ann Hargrave. They were married in Melbourne on June 23, 1863, and the couple had four children. Unfortunately, Mary Ann died in 1881 when she was only 42 years old, and three years later Robert died at age 46.

I welcome readers’ comments. Write to me at P.O. Box 2866, La Plata, MD 20646. If a reply is desired, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

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A version of this article appears in the December 2026 issue of The Numismatist (money.org)

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