Token, Staffordshire

Description:Staffordshire one penny token. This token was originally produced by John Williams of Scorrier House, Redruth, Cornwall, but has been later re-stamped on the obverse as a Staffordshire Penny. Williams was a tin mine owner and the reverse shows a pumping engine and winding engine at a mine.

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. There was an upsurge in the production of token coinage between 1787 and 1803 as the rapid industrialization of Britain and later the effect of the Napoleonic Wars led to shortages of small denominations. Token coinage from this period is usually of a high quality.

Obverse: 'STAFFORDSHIRE PENNY TOKEN'. Profile of George III.
Reverse: 'PAYABLE AT SCORRIER HOUSE. ONE POUND FOR 240 TOKENS 1812'. View of industrial buildings.