English Private Tokens
Figure 1 (not to scale)
At times in modern English history the official provision of small change, the money most useful in daily transactions, has been inadequate or absent altogether. In small periods unofficial tokens have been provided to fill the gap. The first great age of such issues lasted from about 1649 until the early 1670s. During these years tokens, usually halfpennies and farthings, were widely produced for issue by traders, shopkeepers and innkeepers. There were also some important issues by local authorities. There may have been as many as 20,000 varieties issued for England, Ireland and Wales.
The tokens were normally copper or brass, and round, though octagonal, heart-shaped and square types are known from around 1668. Each side of the token bore an inscription. These could indicate the issuer, the locality, the face value, and sometimes the issuer's trade. Designs in the centre of the token could be initial letters, the arms of the relevant guild or merchants company, a symbol to indicate the issuer's trade (e.g. hat, tobacco pipes, roll of cloth), or an inn sign. Fig 1 illustrates a farthing token of William Sayer, a grocer of Ipswich, dated 1666.
Figure 2 (not to scale)
The late 18th century witnessed a resurgence of private tokens in the face of a shortage of regal copper issues. Private firms and town corporations filled the gap with copper pennies and halfpennies until the revival of official products in 1797. The tokens usually bore the name of the place or firm issuing them, and an inscription on the edge often gave the places in which they could be exchanged for official money. Illustrated as fig 2 is a halfpenny of Lancaster dated 1794. Alongside the pieces intended for currency, sets for collectors were also marketed, which could depict buildings, national heroes and political events.
Another shortage of official coin inspired further token production in 1810-12. No new copper coinage was struck from 1807 to 1821, and silver was also scarce. In consequence shilling and sixpence silver tokens joined copper penny and halfpenny tokens until the 1817 Act of Suppression prohibited all such private issues.
Bibliography
G C Williamson, Trade Tokens issued in the 17th Century, London, 1889-91
M Dickinson, 17th Century Tokens of the British Isles and Their Values, London, 1986
R Dalton & S Hamer, The Provincial Token Coinage of the 18th Century, London, 1910, Reprinted 1967
W J Davis, The 19th Century Token Coinage of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, London, 1969
