Just wondering if silver tokens such as that shown would have passed as common currency in daily use? I assume that they were used alongside genuine shillings of the period. I dug up this example in a field on the outskirts of Bath in Somerset while metal detecting .
Nice token! I think Dalton Somerset 49. I think there is no doubt these were in general circulation up to about 1816. The Napoleonic wars meant no regal silver coinage (apart from a few Maundy pieces and re-minted captured "dollars") was issued from 1787 to 1816. Tokens were authorised by parliament to provide some means of continuing trade. These came to a halt in 1816 when Regal coinage began to be issued again in large quantities and the Trucking act banned tokens.
PaddyB, thanks for the potted history lesson. Very interesting. I hadn't realised that there was no regal silver coinage issued over that rather long 29 year period. It also explains why most of my Bull Head silver coins are dated around 1816.
Yes, the bull head coins were part of the Second Great Recoinage, which started in 1816 and basically set the size and style of British coinage right through to decimalisation in 1971. Because of the huge initial issue, 1816 is the most common date for most denominations, but there are also many contemporary forgeries around. The First Great Recoinage was in 1696/7 under the direction of Isaac Newton as Master of the Royal Mint. Great quantities of older silver, both milled and hammered, were taken in melted and reissued to new standards, setting the pattern through to 1816. One can only imagine what beautiful and rare coins disappeared in both recoinages!
I fully agree that many coins would have disappeared due to recoinages but this is what makes those left behind after being dropped and lost in antiquity such special finds for detectorists today. I am sure that many of the scarce types of Henry 1st are only scarce because large numbers of coins were withdrawn and melted down when new types were issued.
