Great Britain, Halfpenny-Token 1790

Great Britain
Halfpenny token
1790
Middlesex National Series
Obv.: Bust of George IV as Prince of Wales half right
Rev.: escutcheon held by lion and unicorn
Edge: Brighton Camp Halfpenny

Lack of change? Great Britain has always been creative with it. Acquire a halfpenny token from the second period of 1788-1796.

Tokens served as a replacement for small coins and were minted by merchants as early as the 16th century. The legal copper coinage stopped already in 1754, because there were not enough coins. Counterfeiting became more and more frequent, so that in the meantime about 60 percent of the coins in circulation were false. At this time, tokens, although illegal, became very popular and were accepted locally as a means of payment.