18th C Halfpenny Tokens | UK | Whitmore Coins Tokens and Medals 2/3

COINS? WHAT COINS?

For most of the reign of George III, from 1760 to 1797, chronic shortages of coin became the rule rather than the exception. There were issues of copper farthings and halfpennies for five years after 1770, and a substantial quantity of sixpences and shillings in 1787, otherwise only gold half and one guineas were regularly available, and these were of little use to any but the most affluent. At the same time the industrial revolution was transforming the country and converting a large part of the peasant population into an urban workforce needing a weekly wage in cash. Something had to give.

PARYS MOUNTAIN

Beginning in 1787 huge quantities of copper pennies and halfpennies made their appearance. A mother lode of high grade copper ore had been discovered on the Parys mountain in Anglesey, and a consortium of businessmen found an unbelievably simple way to make their fortunes. They paid workers to extract copper, converted the copper into tokens and then used some of the tokens to pay the workers to extract more copper. The rest were put into circulation as everyone was willing if not eager to use the tokens in place of the remnants of old currency, enabling commerce to flourish unhindered. The tokens were made by the most modern techniques, even having letters around the edge. They were far better in appearance and quality than any coppers the Royal Mint had ever been capable of producing.

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TOKENS

Such a successful idea was soon copied vigorously. At first the new issuers were careful to make the copper content reasonably substantial and to include promises of redemption. Many took pride in their products and used interesting and elaborate designs to publicise themselves, their businesses, and their towns.

The tokens also functioned in a manner which today might seem way beyond their capacity, but in the eighteenth century there were almost no means of mass communication, and few of the poorer people were literate. The governing class, fearful of a repetition in Britain of recent events in France, attempted to suppress radical political views. Because the tokens were handled by everyone from the highest to the lowest but were beyond authoritarian control, it was possible to use them to convey criticism of the regime from the mildest to the most extreme through their designs, which everyone could understand, as well as by inscriptions aimed at the literate minority.

18th Century Halfpenny Token Leighton Buzzard 3a Goldsmith Baintree edge.

18th Century Halfpenny Token Inverness 3 1795 Rose & Thistles - Cornucopia.

18th Century Halfpenny Token Glasgow 3a Edge: Cambridge, Bedford & Huntingdon

18th Century Halfpenny Token Exeter 2 1792 Bishop Blaize. Kingdon's edge.

18th Century Halfpenny Token Dimchurch 15 1794 W P cypher. W Parris's edge

18th Century Halfpenny Token Worcester 34 1788 George III. Scalloped edge. Rare

18th Century Halfpenny Token Stafford 21 1797 Arms / WH Cypher. Horton's edge

18th Century Halfpenny Token Slough 24 1794 Red Lion Inn. View of building

18th Century Halfpenny Salisbury 12 1791 WGM cypher. Milled edge. Very Rare

18th Century Halfpenny Romney 38 1794 "The Success" Small ship. Sawyer's edge

18th Century Halfpenny Inverness 1b 1793 Rose & Thistles / Cornucopia.

18th Century Halfpenny Wilkinson 464 Moneta seated. Plain edge

18th Century Halfpenny Petersfield 48c 1793 Horseman. Plain edge.- Flan crack

18th Century Halfpenny Norwich 46a 1793 Mounted dragoon / barracks. Plain edge

18th Century Halfpenny Norwich 22a 1794 Muff & tippet. Cronebane or in Dublin

18th Century Halfpenny North Wales 8a Edge Bedworth Hinkley or Nuneaton. Rare

18th Century Halfpenny Middlesex 678a 1794 Spences. Plain edge. Lustre Trace

18th Century Halfpenny Lamberhurst 35 1794 Chichester / Canterbury. Gibb's edge

18th Century Halfpenny Ipswich 35 1794 Market Cross. Conder's Drapery Warehouse

18th Century Halfpenny Glasgow 7a Arms / John Howard. Milled edge.

18th Century Halfpenny Emsworth 33 1795 Earl Howe. Mining Tools 1790 Partly weak

18th Century Halfpenny token Emsworth 23 1795 Earl Howe. Stride's edge.

18th Century Halfpenny Emsworth 21 1795 Earl Howe. Stride's edge.

18th Century Halfpenny Emsworth 20c 1794 Earl Howe. Edge milled. Rare.

18th Century Halfpenny Emsworth 20a 1794 Earl Howe King & Constitution

18th Century Halfpenny Emsworth 20 1794 Earl Howe King & Constitution 10% Lustre

18th Century Halfpenny Emsworth 13 1794 Admiral Howe / Britannia.

18th Century Halfpenny Emsworth 11b 1794 Seated female / Dove & Cornucopia. Rare

18th Century Halfpenny Cronebane 68a Bishops Head. Seated female. Engrailed Edge

18th Century Halfpenny Cronebane 68 Bishops Head London Bristol & Lancaster edge

18th Century Halfpenny Coalbrookdale 10 1792 Iron bridge / Inclined plane

18th Century Halfpenny Chesham 20 1795 Shield / Crest over A.S. Simpson's edge.

18th Century Halfpenny Cambridgeshire 17 Beehive & bees / Plough & shuttle.

18th Century Halfpenny Southampton 89 1791 Taylor & Moody's edge - 10% Lustre

18th Century Halfpenny Slough 27 1795 John Peckham Chemist & Druggist. Shield

18th Century Halfpenny Middlesex 998 1794 Louis XVI Marie Antoinette Milled edge

18th Century Halfpenny Dimchurch 15 1794 W P cypher. W Parris's edge.

18th Century Halfpenny Cronebane 63 1794 Bishops Head / Justice. Plain edge

18th Century Halfpenny Anglesey 449 Edge Lancaster London Bristol. Lustre trace

18th Century Halfpenny Worcester 35 1788 George III / Shield Worcester etc.

18th Century Halfpenny Kidderminster 23 1791 Santer. Woolpack / Shield.

18th Century Halfpenny Kidderminster 23 1791 Santer. Woolpack / Shield.

18th Century Halfpenny Sandwich 39 Ancient sloop / Arms. Thomas Bundocks edge

18th Century Halfpenny Rochdale 145 1792 Arms / Man in loom. Kershaw's edge

18th Century Halfpenny Perth 10 1797 David Peters wine & spirit shop

18th Century Halfpenny Monmouth 3 1795 J.Powell. Cask / Wine & brandy merchant.

18th Century Halfpenny Macclesfield 62 Charles Roe / R & C beneath beehive

18th Century Halfpenny Dublin 347 1799 View of Building. Payable at the Pantheon

18th Century Halfpenny Birmingham 128 Hallan's. no trace of the usual die break

18th Century Halfpenny Bath 35a John Howard Remember the Debtors. Rare

18th Century Halfpenny Anglesey 427 Salop Woollen Manufactory. Anglesey etc edge

18th Century Halfpenny Anglesey 438b 1791 Druids head Edge. Lancaster

18th Century Halfpenny Anglesey 440 1791 Druids head Edge. Birmingham

18th Century Halfpenny Anglesey 442 1791 Druids head - Paris Miners

18th Century Halfpenny Anglesey 450a 1793 Druids head - PMCo cypher

18th Century Halfpenny Birmingham 123 1792 Donald & Co Beehive & bees

18th Century Halfpenny Brighton 10 1796 W.Mighells - "Honor the King"

18th Century Halfpenny Brookland 5 1794 Kentish horse Thomas King's edge

18th Century Halfpenny Bury St.Edmunds 26 - PD cypher P Decks edge 40% Lustre

18th Century Halfpenny Chelmsford 5 Shire Hall. King Constitution Clachar's edge