Author: Claudia Cadete 

Henry Biggs was an innkeeper in Birmingham, the ‘General Elliot’ in Moore Street and issued his own ‘Halfpenny’ in 1792 in order that he could give change in the tavern where he was also a licensed victualler. Not unsurprisingly, the design for his halfpenny featured the bust of General Elliot who had so valiantly defended Gibraltar against the French and Spanish some twelve years previously.  The coin is copper and about 30mm wide.

In the 1790s there was no official small copper change in the country. Britain was at war with France and the price of copper had risen causing the regal issue to ‘vanish’.  This caused tremendous hardship for small merchants and shop keepers throughout the country, for how were they to conduct the everyday transactions of selling small goods if they had no change. The Crown was busy with the war and any ‘unofficial’ production of coin of the realm would be seen as forgery which was punishable by hanging ! Eventually a Welsh mining company hit upon the idea of turning their copper straight into pennies and halfpennies but calling them ‘tokens’ that were redeemable in official coin – thus avoiding the forgery problem. As they were the correct weight, no one bothered to change them and in the space of a year, merchants in every town in England started issuing their token pence !

On the edge of Biggs’s halfpenny pictured here, is the legend PAYABLE AT HENRY BIGGS’S MOORE STREET, thus stating that it was redeemable as a halfpenny token and not an actual halfpenny !

This solved the lack of small change in the 1790s and for ten years, until the government got its act together after the war and issued official copper coins. Throughout this last decade of the eighteenth century, it is these copper ‘token’ pence and halfpence one would have had in one’s pocket, all over the country, as small change.

There were many merchants in Warwickshire issuing their own coppers, particularly in Birmingham and Coventry and also other smaller localities such as Warwick, Meriden, Nuneaton and Stratford-upon-Avon

For Meriden there is a beautiful halfpenny token featuring the annual archery competition between the ‘Woodmen of Arden’ that took place there and for Stratford-upon-Avon the halfpenny naturally features William Shakespeare.

Robert Reynolds & Co. were ribbon weavers in Coventry and produced a very elegant token in 1792. One side shows an almost naked Lady Godiva on a horse whilst the other side portrays the arms of Coventry, an elephant and castle.  

The tokens for all these Warwickshire localities can be seen in an auction of 18^th. century Tokens being held by A H Baldwin & Sons on the 25^th. of May. This is one of the finest collections of these tradesmen’s tokens to come onto the market in many years and each piece can be viewed on https://thestrand.com/departments/coins#upcoming-auctions  They provide a marvellous window into this last decade of the eighteenth century.

Every English county is represented and nearly every English city and market town has a merchant or shopkeeper issuing their own coins and for ten years it was a truly a coinage ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’.

William Peckham was a general shopkeeper in Appledore in southern Kent and issued his own ‘Halfpenny’ in order that he could give change in the shop. He produced a marvellous coin with one side showing a lamb sleeping with a lion and a legend proclaiming PEACE, INNOCENSE AND PLENTY which is probably a sentiment based on Britain’s continuing war with France and the deprivations and hardships it caused. On the other side a windmill is portrayed which would have been a common feature on the landscape at that time. The coin is copper and about 30mm wide.

In the 1790s there was no official small copper change in the country. Britain was at war with France and the price of copper had risen causing the regal issue to ‘vanish’.  This caused tremendous hardship for small merchants and shop keepers throughout the country, for how were they to conduct the everyday transactions of selling small goods if they had no change. The Crown was busy with the war and any ‘unofficial’ production of coin of the realm would be seen as forgery which was punishable by hanging ! Eventually a Welsh mining company hit upon the idea of turning their copper straight into pennies and halfpennies but calling them ‘tokens’ that were redeemable in official coin – thus avoiding the forgery problem. As they were the correct weight, no one bothered to change them and in the space of a year, merchants in every town in England started issuing their token pence !

On the edge of the Peckham’s halfpenny, pictured here, is the legend PAYABLE AT W. PECKHAM’S APPLEDORE, thus stating that it was redeemable as a halfpenny token and not an actual halfpenny !

This solved the lack of small change in the 1790s and for ten years, until the government got its act together after the war and issued official copper coins. Throughout this last decade of the eighteenth century, it is these copper ‘token’ pence and halfpence one would have had in one’s pocket, all over the country, as small change.

There were many merchants in Kent issuing their own coppers, particularly in the town of Canterbury, and also other smaller localities such as Sandwich, Romney marsh, Dover, Hythe, Dymchurch, Brookland, Tenterden. Staplehurst, Lamberhurst, Maidstone, Deptford, Benenden, Deal, Faversham Goudhurst, Hawkhurst Sheerness, Bromley  and Chatham.

The halfpenny token used at Deal in 1794 was issued by Richard Long who was a bookseller and ran a library there.  Newspapers would be sent down from London and these ‘reading rooms’ were the main source of information – especially regarding the war with France! Long was fairly prominent in the town and was on the Town Council and also an agent for Kent Life and Annuity Office. His token features a man-of-war with the legend THE GUARD AND GLORY OF G’ BRITAIN which had particular relevance in these troubled times. The reverse bears the cinque Port arms of nearby Sandwich.

Another bookseller and library owner issued a token in Dover, John Horn, as well as having the ‘Public reading Room’ in King Street, also operated the Apollo Circulating Library which circulated that part of Kent. His establishment in King Street was not just a mere reading room but more a fashionable lounge with music and a watering hole for the gentry. On his token he featured the Prime Minister William Pitt who was also Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and on the reverse, the Cinque port arms of Dover.

The tokens for all these Kent localities can be seen in an auction of 18^th. century Tokens being held by A H Baldwin & Sons on the 25^th. of May. This is one of the finest collections of these tradesmen’s tokens to come onto the market in many years and each piece can be viewed on https://thestrand.com/departments/coins#upcoming-auctions  They provide a marvellous window into this last decade of the eighteenth century.

Every English county is represented and nearly every English city and market town has a merchant or shopkeeper issuing their own coins and for ten years it was a truly a coinage ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’.

Markes Lambe, a surgeon in the Royal Navy, was from Bath, his mother Mary had a shop in that city selling fine tees and coffees and in the mid 1790s both issued their own ‘Halfpennies’ in order that they could give change in the shop and generally. With his military background he chose to feature on his halfpenny the Somerset Yeoman Cavalry, which had been raised to combat the expected Napoleonic invasion and a troop with which he well have been involved. His mother chose a camel to grace her coin, representing the East and all its allure to reflect the exotic qualities of her stock – both coins are around 30mm in breadth.

In the 1790s there was no official small copper change in the country. Britain was at war with France and the price of copper had risen causing the regal issue to ‘vanish’.  This caused tremendous hardship for small merchants and shop keepers throughout the country, for how were they to conduct the everyday transactions of selling small goods if they had no change. The Crown was busy with the war and any ‘unofficial’ production of coin of the realm would be seen as forgery which was punishable by hanging ! Eventually a Welsh mining company hit upon the idea of turning their copper straight into pennies and halfpennies, but calling them ‘tokens’ that were redeemable in official coin – thus avoiding the forgery problem. As they were the correct weight, no one bothered to change them and in the space of a year, merchants in every town in England started issuing their token pence !

On the edge of Mary Lambes’s halfpenny, pictured here, is the legend PAYABLE BY M. LAMBE & SON, thus stating that it was redeemable as a halfpenny token and not an actual halfpenny !

This solved the lack of small change in the 1790s and for ten years, until the government got its act together after the war and issued official copper coins. Throughout this last decade of the eighteenth century it is these copper ‘token’ pence and halfpence one would have had in one’s pocket, all over the country, as small change.

There were many merchants in Somerset issuing their own coppers, particularly in the towns of Bristol and Bath, and also other smaller localities such as Bridgewater, Taunton, Crewkerne, Yeovil Ilchester and Freshford

The halfpenny token used at Bridgewater in 1794 was issued by John Holloway who was a tailor and draper there but more importantly was also the postmaster in Bridgewater and it is this post office building which he portrays on his token. The actual address is not known but one researcher has possibly identified the building as being no. 3 Cornhill. Holloway was eventually dismissed from his position as postmaster in 1799 – for delaying delivery of the London newspapers because he was reading them  !

Auctioneers Niblock & Hunter were auctioneers in Bristol and they produced a marvellously quaint token with some pretty early ‘in your face’ advertising – two elegant Georgian gentleman are standing talking and one is saying ‘I want to buy some cheap bargains’ and the other replies ‘Then go to Niblock’s in Bridge Street’ and just in case there is any confusion as to which bridge Street this is, the other side has a view of Bristol Bridge !

The tokens for all these Somerset localities can be seen in an auction of 18^th. century Tokens being held by A H Baldwin & Sons on the 25^th. of May. This is one of the finest collections of these tradesmen’s tokens to come onto the market in many years and each piece can be viewed on https://thestrand.com/departments/coins#upcoming-auctions  They provide a marvellous window into this last decade of the eighteenth century and almost every English town is represented in this collection.

Every English county is represented and nearly every English city and market town has a merchant or shopkeeper issuing their own coins and for ten years it was a truly a coinage ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’.

James Dally was a linen draper in Chichester, with a shop near to the High Cross and in 1794 he issued his own Halfpenny that he could give in change. His little copper coin is about 27mm in breadth and features Queen Elizabeth I and the Bishop Storey’s High Cross which was just by his shop.

In the 1790s there was no official small copper change in the country. Britain was at war with France and the price of copper had risen causing the regal issue to ‘vanish’.  This caused tremendous hardship for small merchants and shop keepers throughout the country, for how were they to conduct the everyday transactions of selling small goods if they had no change. The Crown was busy with the war and any ‘unofficial’ production of coin of the realm would be seen as forgery which was punishable by hanging !. Eventually a Welsh mining company hit upon the idea of turning their copper straight into pennies and halfpennies but calling them ‘tokens’ that were redeemable in official coin – thus avoiding the forgery. As they were the correct weight, no one bothered and in the space of a year, merchants in every town in England started issuing their token pence !

On the edge of James Dally’s halfpenny, pictured here, is the legend PAYABLE AT DALLYS CHICHESTER, thus stating that it was redeemable as a halfpenny and not an actual halfpenny !

This solved the lack of small change in the 1790s and for ten years, until the government got its act together after the war, and issued official copper coins. Throughout the 1790s it is these copper ‘token’ pence and halfpence one would have had in one’s pocket, all over the country, as small change.

There were many merchants in Sussex issuing their own coppers, particularly in the towns of Brighton and Chichester, but also other smaller localities such as East Grinstead, Horsham, Lamberhurst, Northiam, Winchelsea, Hastings and Eastbourne

The halfpenny token used at Eastbourne in 1796 was issued by Frederick Fisher who sold stationary and was also an auctioneer. His establishment was a fashionable ‘library’, a sort of reading room which the visiting gentry would frequent – which explains the rather obsequious message on his token. Fortune did not smile on him as by 1803 he had gone bankrupt but he then moved to London and became an estate agent!  

The token for Brighton is an enigmatic piece – probably issued for collectors at the time, but at the same time could be used as change, this token features an officer conducting an attack and on the other side ships and trophies of war – obviously a references to the war with France.

The tokens for all these Sussex localities can be seen in an auction of 18^th. century Tokens being held by A H Baldwin & Sons on the 25^th. of May. This is one of the finest collections of these tradesmen’s tokens to come onto the market in many years and each piece can be viewed on https://thestrand.com/departments/coins#upcoming-auctions  They provide a marvellous window into this last decade of the eighteenth century and almost every English town is represented in this collection.

Every English county is represented and nearly every English city and market town has a merchant or shopkeeper issuing their own coins and for ten years it was a truly a coinage ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’.