Hard Times in 1800s Britain: Tokens to the Rescue

When governments, due to economic upheaval or war,  have been unable or unwilling to provide necessary small change for the people’s daily needs in the marketplace, enterprising private individuals have taken it upon themselves to produce tokens, usually in copper. This occurred in the United States during the Hard Times era (1832-44) and the Civil War, and three times in Great Britain—during the 17^th century, late 18^th century, and the early 19^th century.

The British government (or the Crown) halted the popular late-18^th-century issues by producing 2 penny, penny, and halfpenny coins in 1797. Sporadic issues of copper coins followed in 1799, 1806, and 1807, but the mint had to strike more pieces to fulfill the need for small change. Therefore, private individuals once again took matters into their own hands and produced a series of copper tokens between 1811 and 1814, with the vast majority struck in 1811 and 1812. Most were pennies, with a much smaller number of halfpennies. They were at or close to the standard weight of regular issue pennies, and at 35mm, were slightly smaller than a U.S. silver dollar. 

Unlike the 18^th-century halfpenny tokens issued in 1787-97 throughout England, Scotland, and Wales, 19^th-century tokens were limited to the industrial areas of England, where factory workers—many of whom were employed as a result of England’s Industrial Revolution, which began in 1760—needed them as payment due to the coin shortage.

Nineteenth-century tokens were limited to the industrial areas of England, where factory workers needed them as payment due to the coin shortage.

Payday Problems

Consider the following scenario in England, 1810. It’s payday at a factory in the industrial north. At that time, most factory workers earned between 3 and 10 shillings a week. (One shilling equaled 12 pence.)

Food was the most significant expenditure item. The price of bread, the commodity most commonly used to measure historical change in the cost of living, reached its high point in the first half of the 1810s, when a four-pound loaf cost over a shilling. Patrons could buy a quart of beer for a penny, and 3 pence would buy a meal that included meat, broth, and beer at a tavern.

Because of the chronic silver and copper coin shortage, the factory owner often had to pay small groups of workers with a 1 pound (20 shillings) bank note for each group. (One pound in 1810 equals approximately £101.47 or US$124.18 in 2023.) The workers would have to find a place to get change, usually at a pub. The “publicans” would charge a commission (often 5 percent or more) to change the notes or compel the workers to buy food on credit at exorbitant prices. 

Unreliable Coinage

Most coins circulating in England during that time were copper and silver, and they were so worn that they were underweight and barely legible. King Charles II introduced the first commercially successful milled silver coinage in 1662, and many coins issued from that time forward were still in circulation. The coins the workers received in change were likely to be shillings or sixpence, which were merely silver discs with no dates and barely outlined devices.

In addition, they might have received handfuls of counterfeit halfpennies, which were crudely made and underweight. Many of the coins in circulation, especially copper, were forgeries. So many counterfeit coppers circulated that in 1755, the government halted the production of copper coins, which did not reappear until 1770 and only in limited quantities. Counterfeiters bought them up and made two or even three fakes from one melted regal halfpenny. Under Gresham’s Law, “Bad money drives out good.” The public hoarded the full-weight regal coins and spent the fakes.

During the second half of the 18^th century, the mint produced few silver and copper coins. The Royal Mint produced no copper and silver coins since 1758 except for farthings and halfpennies in 1770-75, an issue of sixpences and shillings in 1787, and sporadic issues of copper coins in 1797, 1799, 1806, and 1807. 

During the second half of the 18^th century, the mint produced few silver and copper coins.

An Economic and Societal Shift

The French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) and the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15) led to financial instability in Britain. This was due to direct military and economic warfare against France and Britain’s financing of a series of coalitions that opposed the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic regimes. The economic conflicts of that era significantly disrupted trade and availability in European markets for products from Britain’s growing mercantile and colonial empire. Silver and copper shortages led to rising prices for these metals and subsequent coin shortages. 

Another factor was the effect of the Industrial Revolution on British society. During the second half of the 18^thcentury, more and more people left the countryside and came to cities for work. They sought employment in newly built factories and enterprises such as iron foundries, coal and copper mining operations, textile makers, and with individual merchants. People in the country lived more or less self sufficiently. They had little use for money because they produced most of their food, made their clothing and tools, and bartered with their neighbors.

Once they moved to the cities, they received wages and spent them on food and other necessities. Factory owners needed a reliable source of coins to meet their payrolls. To make matters worse, Great Britain’s population nearly quadrupled between 1750 and 1800, putting even greater pressure on the scant money supply. It wasn’t long before private enterprises had to step up again to provide temporary relief for the cash-starved British public.

Copper Token Issues, 1811-14

Between 1811 and 1814, factory owners commissioned large numbers of copper tokens, mostly pennies, along with a few issues of farthings (one-fourth of a penny) and half pennies, to pay their workers. Towns and cities issued others. Many penny varieties bore the inscriptions ONE PENNY TOKEN or A ONE POUND NOTE FOR 240 TOKENS. (One pound sterling equaled 240 pence.) 

Samuel Fereday

Iron foundries, at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, required vast tokens. Samuel Fereday employed over 5,000 workers to operate his Priestfield Furnaces near Bilston, Staffordshire. The Fereday tokens had to be manufactured in large numbers. According to their maker, Fereday sent a carriage every two weeks to collect them.

These tokens are generally less artistic than their 18^th-century counterparts (the Conder series, issued between 1787 and 1797). Unlike the small businesses depicted on the halfpenny Conder tokens, many 1811-14  tokens show the machinery and labor performed in their trades. 

Withymoor Scythe Works

One of the best views of an early industrial plant is displayed on a series of penny tokens issued in 1813 and 1814 by the Withymoor Scythe Works, located in the Staffordshire town of that name. Typical products of the firm, such as scythes and other farm implements, are shown on the obverse. The reverse depicts a man seated at a steam-operated drop forge.

The Scorrier House

The Scorrier House penny from the county of Cornwall, dating from 1811, recognizes three prominent local industries––copper, tin, and fishing––incorporating these elements on its obverse. The reverse displays another typical mining scene, with a pumping engine and a winding machine near the entrance to a copper mine. 

Union Copper Company

In 1812 the Union Copper Company in Birmingham, Warwickshire, issued a penny with the company name surrounding a pair of clasped hands and the date on the obverse. The reverse inscription reads FOR PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION around the denomination. Many tokens like this one were current everywhere, as indicated by the reverse inscription.

Jackson & Lister

Local industries also produced and circulated penny tokens to advertise businesses and pay employees. Jackson & Lister, a textile company located in Barnsley, Yorkshire, issued a token whose obverse depicts a man seated at a loom. The reverse legend PAYABLE AT JACKSON AND LISTER, BARNSLEY encloses the PENNY TOKEN denomination. This token is undated but was most likely struck in 1811-12 (as were most of this series). 

S. Hobson, Button Maker

Ordinary merchants are not represented on 19th-century tokens to the degree they had been on earlier ones (such as the Conder series). However, some did issue copper tokens. In 1812 S. Hobson, a button maker in Sheffield, Yorkshire, issued a token whose reverse displays the seated figure of Britannia, which also appears on the reverse of the few regular-issue copper coins of the first decade of the 19th century. The legend ONE PENNY TOKEN, 1812 surrounds Britannia. The obverse inscription reads PAYABLE AT S. HOBSON AND SONS, BUTTON MANUFACTURERS, with Sheffield’s coat of arms in the center. 

New Laws

What happened to the tokens after 1814? In 1816 the Crown finally stepped up and instituted a vast new recoinage which, after many decades of shortages, finally provided the British public with an ample supply of coins. The mint produced silver and gold coins beginning in 1816, and copper coinage followed in 1821. Since businesses no longer needed tokens, most were removed from circulation in 1817 by an act of Parliament, which prohibited the production of copper and other tokens, declaring them illegal after January 1, 1818. With this act, the last of the three significant periods of British token coinage ended. 

With this act, the last of the three significant periods of British token coinage ended. 

Collecting Tokens of History

Nineteenth-century copper tokens are interesting to collect since they provide a window into the history of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. Industrialists issued these tokens amid the exploding Industrial Revolution, telling us of the economic realities of the time. Since the tokens served as the workhorse coins for the expanding numbers of workers in factories and cottage industries and circulated heavily, collectors saved hardly any in nice condition. It is relatively easy for collectors to find examples in Very Fine (VF), but anything in Extremely Fine (EF) or better would be a prize. Decent VF pieces cost around $35 to $50, and EFs $80 to $90. About Uncirculated and uncirculated specimens, when available, easily top $100.

Sources

• British inflation calculator. bankofengland.co.uk.
• Doty, Richard G. English Merchant Tokens. Chicago Coin Club, 1986.
• “London History: Currency, Coinage and the Cost of Living.” oldbaileyonline.org.
• McKivor, Bill. “19^th Century Token History.” The Druids’ Cache. druidscache.com.
• Withers, Paul, and Bente R. Withers. The Token Book: 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th Century Tokens and Their Values. Galata Print, Ltd.: Llanfyllin, Powys, Wales, 2010.