18th Century English Tokens for Sale

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English 18th Century Tokens

Tokens are essentially coins that represent a coin of the realm or are ‘good for’ a certain value of product. In this country they have normally been seen when the official currency is in such a neglected state that the private sector steps in to issue small change. As they cannot issue coin of the realm the coins they make to facilitate trade are termed as tokens in order to bypass any ‘forgery’ implications.

At the end of the 18th. century and beginning of the 19th when copper change became worth more than its denominational value (and thus got melted down) due to the rise in the price of copper caused by the war with France. People were desperate for pennies and halfpennies to carry out day to day transactions and the Parys Copper Mine on Anglesey in 1787 hit on the idea of turning the copper it mined straight into coin and passing it on as ready change. The idea caught on and soon every town in the UK had merchants making their own copper tokens to give as change. They were even collected at the time and token manufactures often made tokens for people that thought they might like their own or specious tokens to sell, for towns that had no issuers.

In this section we also include tickets, passes checks, tallies and all form of tokens and other paranumismatic items. Buy online with UK and worldwide delivery available or contact our expert team to arrange a viewing or ask any questions.