CONDERS are British tokens, usually made to the specification of copper halfpennies and pennies.  They were struck in the late 18th century (mostly the 1790s, from what I have seen).  A variety of merchants and social organizations struck them, and their designs are often fascinating snapshots of the period.  They were widely collected in their own era, which no doubt accounts for the high grade of preservation of many examples today.

Some Conder tokens, though struck in England, are loosely associated with America, though they likely never circulated there.  One such example is the Franklin Press token of 1794, which is included in the Red Book of United States coins merely because of its association with Benjamin Franklin and with printing.  (Franklin worked as a journeyman printer in Boston, but apparently had no connection to the Franklin press in London).

These tokens get their nickname from the surname of one of the first authors to catalog them: James Conder, of Ipswich, Suffolk.  His catalog was first published in 1795 and revised in 1798.  It remained the standard reference on these pieces until 1890.  

That is about the extent of my knowledge of these tokens.  They have been a popular specialty amongst many collectors and numismatic scholars for generations, but I do not happen to be one of those specialists. 

Mostly, I undertook the writing of this little guide for one reason: if you learn nothing else about them, learn how to spell the word, please. 

It is C-O-N-D-E-R, not C-O-N-D-O-R. 

A "condor" is a carrion-eating bird.  Graceful in flight, but rather hideous when viewed up close.  (They probably have nasty breath, too.)

A "conder" is one of the series of cool old tokens I have just discussed, albeit briefly.

I encourage you to learn more about them, now that you know how to spell the keyword.  I intend to do just that, myself, now that I have straightened out that bit about the proper spelling.  That, at least, I am confident in my knowledge of.  I'll leave the rest to someone who does specialize in these.  :-)

-Robertson W. Shinnick, World Numismatist

PS- by the way, if you are more interested in condors than conders, but still like coins, the condor is the national bird of both Chile and Ecuador, and appears prominently on Chilean coinage.  Though ugly, their size apparently earns them some respect.