Exonumia is the study of token coinage. Token coinage technically designates any coin whose face value is more than its intrinsic value – so every coin we currently use in Britain is a token. In practice, however, the term tends to denote locally produced, unofficial coinages – that is, currency that is not the coinage of the realm. In Britain the major phases of token coinage were in the late Middle Ages, the second half of the 17th century, and the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Token coinage did not exist before the 14th century because low-earning people tended to make barter transactions, or cut pennies into halfpennies and farthings. However, as trade intensified and a craft-based economy emerged, a need for small change arose. It was initially minted in silver (so not a token coinage) but as it did not meet the need, ‘jetons’ or tokens were minted locally. In Bury these took the form of ‘Boy Bishop’ tokens, which also fulfilled a festive function. On the Feast of St. Nicholas (6th December) a boy (probably an oblate of the Abbey) would be dressed in a bishop’s vestments and lifted onto a throne, and to celebrate the occasion lead tokens were struck and distributed. Certain types of token were associated with Bury - one example can be seen in the Cathedral treasury.
The mid-16th century saw the rapid debasement of silver coinage by Henry VIII and Edward VI, leading to inflation. As a consequence, the tiny silver halfpennies and farthings became tinier and tinier until, in the reign of Elizabeth, the first copper coinage was produced; James I and Charles I continued this practice erratically, but by the end of the Commonwealth and the Restoration there was virtually no official copper coinage in circulation, so shopkeepers took matters into their own hands by minting tokens of their own. These tokens would be given out by the shopkeeper as small change and could then be spent again, but only in that shop.
I am curious at who engraved the dies for these tokens, and where they were struck – did this happen locally, or were there a few die engravers and ‘moneyers’ who had contracts with many traders? Were some tokens coined on the premises of the traders themselves? No-one has ever been able to satisfactorily answer these questions for me.
The grocer John Purcas and the haberdasher James Grandy were apparently the first Bury tradesman to issue farthing tokens in 1664. The tobacconist John Lucas issued the first halfpenny in 1668, indicating perhaps that until that date official halfpennies were still in circulation. The only penny token was issued by Robert Stanton for use in his coffee house; coffee was a relatively expensive commodity. By 1670 the issue of tokens had ceased; the practice was proscribed by act of Parliament in 1672 and the tokens discarded, which is why they are so often discovered by metal detectorists.
It is noteworthy that no issuer minted more than one set of halfpenny or farthing tokens, indicating perhaps that their use was not immensely popular; it may be that customers were still a little wary of the new innovation. Most tradesmen identified themselves by a symbol of their trade (preferably the coat of arms of their livery company – a symbol of prestige) or by their location. The only tradesman to carry an image related to the town (rather than to his profession) on his tokens was George Stannard, whose 1667 token bore an image of the old Market Cross. The apothecary Mary Cresner was the only woman to issue her own tokens; the Catholic historian Henry Dodd, writing in the 1780s, linked the Cresner family to the Short family, the Catholic medical dynasty in the town. Although an alliance between a family of apothecaries and a family of doctors is likely indeed, I found no evidence in my study of the Shorts to confirm Dodd’s suggestion. The John Pretyman Senior who issued a token in 1667 was uncle by marriage to the Catholic mercer John Stafford, Mayor of Bury in 1688 – it is a great shame that Stafford himself did not (as far as we know) issue tokens. His predecessor as Mayor, the grocer Richard Pryme, did issue a token – and it was Pryme who re-assumed the Mayoralty in 1688 and wiped John Stafford from the records of the Borough in Stalinist fashion.
Trade tokens of Bury tradesmen, 1664–1670 (derived from the list in Moyse’s Hall Museum)
HENRY HEADACH VINTNER; Bacchus seated on a barrel
RO. STANTON AT THE COFFEE HOUSE 1669 1d; hand pouring coffee
IOHN PRETYMAN SENIOR 1667; lion rampant
WILLIAM COLBURN AT THE STILL; still
EDWARD WARTON OTMELMAKER; cogwheel
IOHN CHESSON 1666; Haberdashers’ Arms (farthing)
IOHN CHESSON 1669; Haberdashers’ Arms (halfpenny)
IAMES GRANDY 1664; Haberdashers’ Arms (farthing)
DANIELL CROSSLAND 1669 AT THE; Griffin (halfpenny)
IOHN LANSETER IN COOKE ROW
MARTIN SEYDEN 1669; leg with shoe (halfpenny)
MARTIN SEYDEN 1669; leg with shoe (farthing)
FRANCIS GODFREY; Mercers’ Arms (farthing)
NICHOLAS GYRLING; Mercers’ Arms (farthing)
NATHANELL WORTON MAVLSTER; bushel measure (halfpenny)
IOHN LUCAS 1668; roll of tobacco (halfpenny)
IOHN VSHER 1670; woolpack (halfpenny)
THOMAS BVLL; wagon (farthing)
GEORGE ADKISSON; Bakers’ Arms (farthing)
AMBROSE ALEXANDER; Bakers’ Arms (farthing)
IOHN SHARPE 1666; woolpack (farthing)
HEN. HAMOND CLOTHIER; Clothworkers’ Arms (farthing)
MATHEW FRITH; Brickmakers’ Arms (halfpenny)
EDWARD BARNBE GARDINER; bunch of grapes (halfpenny)
FRANCES SMITH 1666 (farthing)
IOHN BAYTHORNE; Arms (farthing)
WILLIAM WARRIN 1666; a roll of tobacco
GEORGE STANARD 1667; The Market Cross
MARIE CRESSENER; mortar and pestle (farthing)
THOMAS GRIFFIN; pike fish (farthing)
THOMAS ELLIS 1668; wagon
IOHN COPPIN 1669; a hare (halfpenny)
THOMAS PAYNE BAKER; oven peel (halfpenny)
WILLIAM BRYDON 1670; shoe (halfpenny)
IOHN FARECLOTH 1667; Grocers’ Arms
EDWARD PANE; Grocers’ Arms
RICHARD PRIME; Grocers’ Arms
IOHN PURCAS 1664; Grocers’ Arms
EDWARD TAYLER; Grocers’ Arms
SIMON WILKIN; Grocers’ Arms
