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.
