Many of you have heard of the Provincial Token Coinage ("Conder" tokens) privately issued mostly in copper from 1787 to about 1804 to help with a severe shortage of small change at the time. Well, not too long after that coin shortage, another shortage had reared its ugly head by around 1810. This snippet from the Bristol Mirror (August 1811) gives insight to the shortage of coinage during the period: "The total disappearance of Good Coin and the extreme difficulty of procuring Silver Change, continue to perplex, if not to alarm, every description of persons. The Bank [of England] Tokens have been so sparingly issued, that they have hitherto served rather to gratify curiosity than to administer to public convenience. In fact, unless some means are immediately adopted to remedy this daily . . .[increasing] evil, it will be impossible to execute the ordinary transactions of trade. The want of change is no longer merely an inconvenience, but a source of actual distress to thousands of traders and poor people; the former of whom are reduced to the alternative of giving credit, which they wish to avoid, or keeping their commodities in hand; and the latter are compelled to submit to purchases in which the liberty of choice is sacrificed to the necessity of the occasion. It is a serious fact, that several butchers and market people, on the last Taunton market day, declared their intention of withholding all supplies which were not indispensably required by their regular customers, while others avowed their determination to abstain from attending the market altogether." To remedy this shortage, another wave of privately issued copper and silver coinage began to show up in large quantities by 1811, some issued as late as 1814 or thereabouts. The copper and silver token coinage from 1811-1814 is exceedingly difficult to find in high grade, as most everything issued was circulated and heavily used. The token below is an example of a 12 pence (shilling) token issued in September of 1811 by Mr. William Sheppard. From James O'Donald Mays' BNJ Article (Silver Tokens and Bristol, 1978): "William Sheppard was one of those enterprising Bristolians who conducted a wide range of business activities. The 1815 city guide lists him as being a stationer, bookseller, lottery operator, and owner of a patent medicine warehouse. His place of business was near the Exchange, thus assuring him a steady procession of prosperous clients. His own guide of Bristol, published a few years before his tokens were issued, carries a full page of patent medicines available from his shop: his cures bear such intriguing names as Balm of Mecca, Iceland Liverwort, Senate's Embrocation for Worms, and Sicilian Bloom of Youth and Beauty. Sheppard issued shillings (Dalton 49-50) and sixpences (Dalton 65); both denominations would have been useful in purchasing volumes from his bookshop, many of which sold for a shilling or one shilling and sixpence." I was happy to acquire this token in a recent Heritage auction, and have since traced it as the plate coin from the 1922 Dalton reference (The silver token-coinage mainly issued between 1811 and 1812 described and illustrated; R. Dalton, 1922). Below the token I also show the Bristol City Arms from a publication in 1673.
Some 40 years previously, in the 1770s, there had been a similar shortage of minor coins, followed by a huge proliferation of counterfeit coppers. Due to a technicality in the law, they were LEGAL!! Commonly known as "evasion" tokens; read about them here: http://www.thecoppercorner.com/history/evasions_hist.html
Very interesting history, brg, and very much appreciated. While I have a rudimentary understanding of the Conder Tokens, I wasn't aware of the second "wave" of shortages in 1810. Your token is absolutely beautiful and a wonderful addition to your collection. The fact that it's a plate token makes it even more special. Congratulations. Bruce
It was a recurring problem. 17th Century tokens were also quite prevalent so it even stretches long before the 1770s. The evasion pieces were still technically tokens -- that loophole in the law meant that so long as the coppers minted weren't exact duplicates of the Royal coinage, you were okay. The evasions to which you refer were a drop in the bucket compared to the eventual private token coinage from 1787-1804. If you wanted to, you could lump together the whole period from the mid 1770s through the early 1800s together -- and this is exactly what George Selgin did in his 2011 book (Good Money: Birmingham Button Makers, the Royal Mint, and the Beginnings of Modern Coinage, 1775-1821). If you haven't read that book, it's likely the best historical treatise on the coinage issues in Great Britain during that era. I highly recommend the read. It is much more complete/thorough than Bill McKivor's synopsis at The Copper Corner.
