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V24 2021 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 24, Number 33, August 15, 2021, Article 12

QUERY: PANDORA'S BREECHES

Ray Williams writes:

"In last week’s E-Sylum you posted the answer to the three Thomas's portrayed on the Middlesex token. What is the symbolism for the pants on the reverse?"

I didn't know what to make of the reverse. I'd heard of Pandora's box but not Pandora's breeches. But I found this 2011 post over on the Collectors Universe forum. -Editor

Serpent Pandora's Breeches, 1792, designed by Thomas Spence, London. It depicts Priestley as a serpent below a burning pair of straw-filled pants, labeled "Pandora's Breeches."

If the plot to burn down Parliament had succeeded, the token implies that all hell would have broken loose, just as in the myth of Pandora's box.

I found another image over on CoinTalk. -Editor

There's a book with the title "Pandora's Breeches" but the descriptions and reviews I've read (and there seem to be hundreds) don't say where the title comes from. The phrase is probably a contemporary reference, but I've come up empty looking for one. -Editor

To read the complete posts, see:
Its Friday and the weekend is here....post anything you want (https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/807536/its-friday-and-the-weekend-is-here-post-anything-you-want)
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/lets-see-your-conder-tokens.107719/page-20

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: AUGUST 8, 2021 : The Three Thomas's (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n32a15.html)



Wayne Homren, Editor

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