There was a time, during the Napoleonic Wars, when the British Government could not supply enough coins to its domestic economy. In their place, various merchants issued tokens. Chief among these were the Bank of England tokens. These pieces were issued in silver, and were in two denominations, 16 pence (or 1 and a half shillings) and 3 shillings. These pieces look like coins, but technically they aren’t because they were not issued by the British government. Here are examples of each piece: An 1813, 1 shilling, 6 pence piece An 1814, 3 shillings piece When other merchants saw that the Bank of England could issue tokens, they thought they they could get into the act. Here is an example. You will note that the issuer was very careful to say that his piece could be used in only a restricted area and at his business. This piece was worth 12 pence or 1 shilling. It is my understanding that large numbers of these pieces were issued in towns around England. There were also one penny pieces. If anyone is an expert in the tokens issued during this period, I would to read more information about these pieces.
I certainly don't consider myself an expert, but I do collect these. There are several books written on the subject. The ones by R. C. Bell are the first that come to mind. They are well illustrated and give a lot of information.
So I take, @Chris B, that there are hundreds of varieties of these tokens, both in silver and copper? What denominations were they? I am not looking to collect these pieces in any great detail. I am more interested in the history. One of the factors that caused America a lot of economic trouble just after we won our independence in the 1780s was a lack of money in circulation. It surprised me to learn the England had the same problem during the same era. It was an example of where old King George III really dropped the ball for his people.
There are not nearly as many varieties of 19th century tokens as there are 18th century. The most common 19th century tokens are the copper penny tokens. As you saw they also made silver shillings and there are some half penny tokens. The 18th century (Conder) tokens have well over 10,000 varieties. In my opinion, it wasn't just George III that dropped the ball. Royalty in general felt it was beneath them to provide coinage for the common man. That is why they largely looked the other way in regard to the copper token coinage.
When you read the American history, it would lead you to think that the British kings refused to provide coins to the American colonies to keep their economies under control under the mercantilist system. That was certainly part of it, but royal snobbery was other aspect of it. One of the few coins that the British made for the American colonies was the Virginia half penny. You see these in the circulated grades now and then, but there is a hoard of Mint State pieces that has been available to collectors since the 1880s or so. Thank you both for your responses.
I own 4 of these pieces, all pennies, identified with Withers numbers. They are sometimes referred to as Post Conder tokens. Withers# 244 Withers# 224 Withers# 756 Withers# 415 I was originally drawn to these issues because Conder tokens are popular and the prices are quite high. Plus these copper penny issues are just huge! Most sellers don't have an extensive inventory of these, just one or two incidental pieces, so the collection is growing slowly for me. The pennies especially with their large size are difficult to find lacking rim bumps. The number of issues is not near that of Conder tokens from what I can tell, but they are interesting pieces.
wish i had better pictures. i really like these Picard tokens because it happens to be our name. our family wasnt related though. we were on a different continent during that time.
