Whitechapel Bicentennial 1/5th scale Liberty Bell - Black oxidized — Serial number 0473

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Updated on June 26, 2026: This has been sold. For our nation’s Bicentennial, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in England was commissioned to make reproduction Liberty Bells. This is th e same foundry that made our nation's Liberty Bell. These were made in 1/5th scale and 1/9th scale. We offered a 22k gold plated 1/9th scale bell earlier. This is the larger 1/5th scale. It stands 15" tall and weighs 27 lbs. Cast in "bell metal," a traditional, brittle bronze alloy consisting of approximately 77% pure copper and 23% tin. Engraved on a plate affixed to the oak base, "Cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, London, England to their Original Designs of the Liberty Bell made at the same Foundry in the year of Our Lord, 1752". The plate on the other side reads, "This replica of the Liberty Bell was cast for Edmund Braxton Thornton in Commemoration of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution 1776 - 1976." Edmund Braxton Thornton was a businessman who served in the Marines after college and later joined his family's business in Illinois, where he was very active in historic preservation and local and national history organizations. Size Wooden base: 13" x 13" Bell: 9" diameter at base and 9" high Total height: 15" Weight: 27 lb. Shipping will be charged at cost (materials + UPS). Depending on the location of the buyer, this may be hand-delivered. Historical background on Whitechapel Bell Foundry The bell founding industry around Aldgate and Whitechapel can be traced back to at least 1360, and a few years later, Geoffrey Chaucer, living in a room in the Aldgate itself, described the presence of a bell founding industry in the area. The Master Founders (bell makers) of Aldgate and Whitechapel, can be traced back to 1420. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry company began in 1570. Big Ben was recast there in 1858. The Liberty Bell was made there in 1752. Over the centuries, bells from Whitechapel had found their way all over the world. Some 500 Whitechapel tower bells ring in Australia, 600 in the U.S., and at least 900 in Canada. The Foundry closed in 2017. Source: Wikipedia Show more