Description:A copper halfpenny token issued by ironmaster and entrepreneur John ‘Iron Mad’ Wilkinson. Born at Little Clifton, Cumberland in 1728, John Wilkinson pioneered cast iron production during the Industrial Revolution. In partnership with Edward Blakeway he built an ironworks at Bradley, near Bilston in 1766 which was to become the most successful of his business interests. He died at his ironworks on 14 July 1808 and was buried in an iron coffin at Lindale-in-Cartmel, Cumberland.
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.
Half pence token. John Wilkinson.
Obverse: 'IOHN WILKINSON IRON MASTER'. Profile of John Wilkinson.
Reverse: 'HALF PENNY 1791'.
Rim: 'SNEDSHILL, BERSHAM, BRADLEY, WILLEY'.
Saw tooth pattern around edge. Diameter: 29mm.