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QUERY: PANDORA'S BREECHESRay 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:
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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