British Tokens

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Anglesey Druid Halfpenny Token Very Fine_obv

Anglesey, Druid Halfpenny Token Very Fine

The Industrial Revolution brought us many advancements but at the time the Royal Mint was unable to meet the needs presented by the booming industry which could not pay the wages of their workers. Also, by 1786, two-thirds of the coins in circulation in Britain were counterfeit and there was a chronic shortage of small denomination coins needed for everyday transactions. Government made little effort to address the problem so industry took the matter into its own hands. The solution to the problem began in 1786 when one of the largest veins of copper in the world was found at Parys Mountain on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. In 1787, the Parys Mines Company used some of that copper to begin striking these distinctive ‘Druid’ tokens to pay their workers and to release them into general circulation, the concept soon caught on and spread to all corners of the United Kingdom and these tokens became well collected at the time. We can offer you these very tokens that were struck in Halfpenny denominations from 1787-1794, they have the Druid’s head on one side and the PMCo cypher on the reverse. The mine is still in operation today run by The Anglesey Mining Company.
£39.50
Picture of British Silver Shilling Token

British Silver Shilling Token

Because of the shortage of small change in 1811-1812 merchants issued silver tokens with the denominations of Sixpences and Shillings. These private tokens are not only more interesting than the normal coins that would have been struck. But, they are much scarcer and more difficult to find than the coins. The designs vary and you might well find one from a locality that means something to you, but that we cannot guarantee. These Sterling Silver Shilling tokens are in Very Fine condition and well worth having. The price is for one token selected from the available group.
£54.50
Picture of British Silver Sixpence Token

British Silver Sixpence Token

Because of the shortage of small change in 1811-1812 merchants issued silver tokens with the denominations of Sixpences and Shillings. To be honest these private tokens are not only more interesting than the normal coins that would have been struck. But, they are much scarcer and more difficult to find than the coins. The designs vary and you might well find one from a locality that means something to you, but that I cannot guarantee. It has been some time since we last had these scarce tokens to offer our collectors when we did offer them, they quickly sold out. These Sterling Silver Sixpence tokens are in Very Fine condition and well worth having.
£45.00
Charles Roe / Macclesfield Halfpenny Token Very Fine_obv

Charles Roe / Macclesfield Halfpenny Token Very Fine

We have a Token featuring one of the great industrialists of the time, Charles Roe. Originally from Castleton, Derbyshire, he settled in Macclesfield where he was educated. His early ventures focus on the silk trade but, in 1756, he started mining copper at the Coniston mines in the Lake District and at Alderley Edge, near Macclesfield. In 1758 he built a copper smelter on Macclesfield Common and, in 1767, he further expanded and built a copper smelter in Liverpool. In 1774, the Macclesfield Copper Company was formed together with other partners and became one of the giants of the 18th-century brass trade. Charles Roe died in 1781 but the company continued with the involvement of the other partners and, in 1790, they began issuing these halfpenny tokens with the portrait of Charles Roe and the inscription CHARLES ROE ESTABLISHED THE COPPER WORKS 1758. The reverse shows Industry seated with a mining drill and a cogwheel in her hand with MACCLESFIELD HALFPENNY at the top. The edge inscription reads PAYABLE AT MACCLESFIELD LIVERPOOL OR CONGLETON.
£39.50
Picture of Edward VIII, 'Prince of York', Victorian Whist Counter Brilliant Uncirculated

Edward VIII, 'Prince of York', Victorian Whist Counter Brilliant Uncirculated

Issued around 1897 as part of a series. Fantastic condition and scarce.
£24.50
Picture of Elizabeth II, Jubilee Lundy Set 1977

Elizabeth II, Jubilee Lundy Set 1977

1977 Jubilee Lundy Set comprising of a sheet of 6 stamps issued for local usage and a Puffin and Half Puffin coin based on the famous 1928 token issue of Martin Coles Harman.
£16.50
George III, Bank of England Issue, Bull Head, Eighteen Pence, Bank Token, Unc

George III, Bank of England Issue, Bull Head, Eighteen Pence, Bank Token Uncirculated

SC5, the Bank of England Emergency issue, the later type with the 'Bull Head' of George III. Choice Uncirculated.
£345.00
Picture of Hampshire, Southampton, Taylor & Moody Halfpenny Token, 1791

Hampshire, Southampton, Taylor & Moody Halfpenny Token, 1791

Hampshire, Southampton, Taylor & Moody Halfpenny Token, 1791 Obverse: Helmeted bust to right Reverse: Shield of Arms, 1791 Edge: PAYABLE AT THE OFFICE OF W. TAYLOR R.V. MOODY & CO Uncirculated (D&H 89)
£95.00
Hop_Pickers_Token_Obv

Hop Pickers Token

Hop Pickers Token. The cultivation of hops was a popular industry and it employed labour for almost all the year. At the peak of the picking season many thousands of pickers were required and these mostly came from London’s East End for a “holiday” with work and pay and were known as “furiners”. Payment for picking was arranged using these hop-tokens mostly made from lead and white metal and produced by the local blacksmith. The number “1” shows the number of bushels picked and the initials “J S” are those of the issuer James Smith of Place Farm, Icklesham, Sussex. The tokens were passed as money between the pickers themselves, and were also accepted by the shops and inns in the locality, who were assured that the tokens would be redeemed later by the growers who issued them.
£7.95
Picture of Lundy, 1977 Puffin & 1/2 Puffin

Lundy, 1977 Puffin & 1/2 Puffin

In 1977 Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Silver Jubilee 1952-1977. She visited Lundy and a souvenir sheet was issued to honour that event. We have been offering that souvenir sheet with the two coin-tokens of a Puffin and a Half Puffin based on the first Lundy coin-tokens issued in 1929. At that time, the Government took umbrage, and the man who made them had to go to court. Many of our collectors want the coin-tokens, but do not want the souvenir sheet. They are struck in copper and are in brilliant Proof condition. Well worth adding to your collection, after all, how many Lundy issues have there been?
£12.95
Middlesex_Spences_halfpenny_1976_Uncirculated_Obv

Middlesex Spence's Halfpenny, 1796. UNC

18th century copper token issued by T. Spence in 1796.
£225.00
Picture of Middlesex, National Series Halfpenny Token, 1795

Middlesex, National Series Halfpenny Token, 1795

Middlesex, National Series Halfpenny Token, 1795. Uncirculated with lustre (D&H 979)
£150.00
North Wales Farthing Token 1793_obv

North Wales Farthing Token 1793

We have a small group scarce Farthing tokens issued for use in Wales in 1793. There are two types which are very similar in design. This one was issued for North Wales, but another was made for South Wales. They both feature on the obverse an uncrowned portrait of The Prince of Wales at the time who was to become King George IV in 1820 with the legend NORTH WALES FARTHING. The reverse has the legend PRO BONO PUBLICO (For the Public Good) above a shield with the Prince of Wales’ crest. They generally grade as About Very Fine but for some reason the South Wales pieces seem slightly better than the North Wales ones but we will try to supply a matching pair if you buy both.
£39.50
Somerset_Bristol_Silver_6d_token_obv

Somerset, Bristol Silver 6d Token (D55) EF

Somerset, Bristol Silver Sixpence Token, Garratt & Co. (D55) Extremely Fine
£69.50
Someresetshire_Bristol_6d_d65_Obv

Somersetshire Bristol 6d (D65) Near EF

Somerset, Bristol, W. Sheppard, Silver Sixpence, 1811 (D65). Near Extremely Fine.
£59.50
Somerestshire_Bristol_6d_extremely_Obv

Somersetshire, Bristol 6d (D64) Extremely Fine

Somersetshire, Bristol and Wiltshire, Trowbridge, Niblock & Latham, Silver Sixpence, 1811, obv. (D64). Extremely Fine
£79.50
South Wales Farthing Token 1793_obv

South Wales Farthing Token 1793

We have a small group scarce Farthing tokens issued for use in Wales in 1793. There are two types which are very similar in design. This one was issued for South Wales, but another was made for North Wales. They both feature on the obverse an uncrowned portrait of The Prince of Wales at the time who was to become King George IV in 1820 with the legend NORTH WALES FARTHING. The reverse has the legend PRO BONO PUBLICO (For the Public Good) above a shield with the Prince of Wales’ crest. They generally grade as About Very Fine but for some reason the South Wales pieces seem slightly better than the North Wales ones but we will try to supply a matching pair if you buy both.
£39.50
Staffordhire-fazley-6d-token-1811-obv

Staffordshire, Fazeley 6d Token 1811, EF

Staffordshire, Fazeley Silver Sixpence Token 1811, Peel's & Co. (D12) Extremely Fine
£69.50
Picture of Suffolk, Bury Penny Token, 1794

Suffolk, Bury Penny Token, 1794

Suffolk, Bury Penny Token, 1794 Obverse: Bust to left in cocked hat Reverse: Figure of Fame standing between implements of war Edge: VALUE OF ONE PENNY AT P. DECKS POST OFFICE BURY 1794. Good Extremely Fine (D&H 4)
£125.00
Picture of Three Transportation Tokens

Three Transportation Tokens

Most of you are not old enough to remember using tokens on busses, trams and trains. So here is your chance to own three different ones in uncirculated condition. These were put aside years ago. National Transport token for ‘3’ struck with a hole in the centre, Dunedin Tram Transport 1d 8 sided and Carlisle Bus Token for 2p. Three pieces of British transportation history, but we only have 95 sets, so best to get in quickly. All 3 tokens are struck in aluminium.
£12.50
Picture of Token 17th Cent Taunton VG-F

Token 17th Cent Taunton VG-F

We bought a small group of 17th Century Farthing tokens in copper a while ago and we have started listing them by place of issue Here we present the Taunton Token in VG to Fine condition. The price is most reasonable given it is now over 300 years old! Remember, in the 17th Century a farthing would have paid for your boat crossing of the River Thames.
£24.50
Union Copper Company One Penny Token 1812 Very Fine_obv

Union Copper Company One Penny Token 1812 Very Fine

The Union Copper Works was started at Danygraig, Risca, just north of Newport in South Wales and it existed for just ten years. Its trading offices were listed as Congreve Street in Birmingham. The location of the works was a good one with a nearby colliery supplying small coal which was otherwise unsaleable and the newly opened Sirhowy tramroad providing access to a supply of limestone and clay, whilst ore could be brought in on the newly built Monmouthshire canal. At its peak between 1811-1815 the output was around 34 tons per week but the works closed abruptly in 1816 most likely due to the declining demand and price of copper which was falling off at the end of the war against France and the works were offered for sale in 1817. These large copper One Penny Tokens were issued in 1812 and show clasped hands and the date below with the legend UNION COPPER COMPANY BIRMINGHAM around the outside and they grade Very Fine.
£42.50
Picture of Warwickshire, Birmingham, Bigg's Halfpenny Token

Warwickshire, Birmingham, Bigg's Halfpenny Token

Warwickshire, Birmingham, Bigg's Halfpenny Token Obverse: Bust to right Reverse: Three lions rampant Edge: BIRMINGHAM W. HAMPTON OR LITCHFIELD Uncirculated (D&H 71a)
£110.00
Wilkinson 1/2d Token Vulcan at Forge VF_obv

Wilkinson 1/2d Token Vulcan at Forge VF

We have another copper token, this time issued by John ‘Iron Mad’ Wilkinson. John Wilkinson was born in 1728, the son of Isaac Wilkinson, a furnace worker. John also worked at the foundry and learned from an early age the science of working with metals. He rose through the ranks up to the management of a number of ironworks until he eventually entered into partnerships with his own furnaces in various locations in Shropshire where he was also one of the main driving forces in the building of the famous Iron Bridge over the river Severn at Broseley. He, too, saw the opportunities from issuing his own tokens to use as a form of payment but also for self-advertising. So much so, he even had his own portrait stamped on the coins with the words JOHN WILKINSON, IRON MASTER. He issued three main types of token and we can offer two of them here, they both have his effigy on the obverse and on the reverse a different forge scene.
£39.50
William Webster Coin Dealer Token_obv

William Webster Coin Dealer Token

Long before Coincraft had a shop on Great Russell Street, there were other coin dealers located there. This is a brass advertising token struck by William Webster, dealer in Ancient and Modern Coins, Medals & Antiquities at 7 Great Russell Street (although his address was actually no.17). As it states on these tokens, Webster was the successor to William Till who is recorded as a ‘curiosity’ dealer at 17 Great Russell Street in 1832. Till died in 1834 so William Webster, who was Till’s Nephew, ran the business from then on until his death in 1885 and these tokens were struck in the period from 1851-1885. These are very scarce tokens in wonderful condition but we only have a few available to lucky collectors. The last time we offered even one example for sale was 10 years ago at £75.
£49.50