Description:A silver shilling token issued by Peel, Harding & Co of Fazeley, Tamworth in 1811. The first Sir Robert Peel (father of the 2nd Sir Robert Peel, prime minister) set up a cotton mill and calico printing works at Fazeley in the 1790s, later in partnership with Charles Harding. The firm went bankrupt in 1819. The coat of arms on the obverse is that of the Harding family.
Token coins such as this were issued by businesses and other organisations when official coinage was in short supply. In theory, tokens would circulate only where their issuer was known or trusted, but in practice trade tokens were circulated widely and used in exactly the same way as official coinage. The latter years of the Napoleonic Wars affected the economy and led to further issues of tokens between 1811 and 1815. Token coinage from this period is usually of a high quality.
Fazeley one shilling token. Silver.
Obverse: 'PAYABLE BY PEELS. HARDING & CO. / FAZELEY SILVER TOKEN / 1811'. Coat of arms of the Harding family.
Reverse: 'ONE SHLLG'. Surrounded by oak leaf pattern.