28 Transactions. 



Revolution brought a host into circulation, and numbers were 

 struck in honour of the victories of the British arms. In the 

 ten years succeeding 1787 no fewer than 40,000 were put into 

 circulation. In 1811 copper had grown so valuable owing to the 

 great wars that twopenny pieces were worth fivepence, and a 

 large number of silver tokens were issued for the first time in 

 that year. On 17th July, 1817, however, an Act was passed 

 compelling their withdrawal, and that was the end of the system 

 of tokens. In the first period, up to the time of Charles 11.^ 

 there were upwards of 20,000 issued, of which 12,000 were known 

 at the present time, and 40,000 were known to have seen the 

 light from 1787 to 1817. A good many more had doubtless been 

 lost. And the cause of all this was simply the scarcity of change ' 

 Coming to Scotland, he found it a very extraordinary thing that, 

 as far as he could ascertain, there was no collection of Scotch 

 trade tokens, or record of them. In the great antiquarian museum 

 in Edinburgh there was not a single one. There were a few in 

 the Paisley Museum. He had some eighty specimens. There 

 were 240 different varieties of Scotch tokens known, but many of 

 them were simply varieties with such minute differences — princi- 

 pally in the dies — that they were only interesting to collectors. 

 He imagined there were 130 different tokens known to be issued 

 in Scotland. The Edinburgh half-pennies were the oldest known 

 to exist, the earliest date being 1787. There was also a Paisley 

 Abbeypenny, for which he would be glad to give £20. He could 

 sell it for £50. (Laughter.) He exhibited an Edinburgh half- 

 penny of date 1791, payable at Dumfries, the reason of their 

 being made payable at different towns being that Scotch traders 

 went to all the London and other great markets carrying their 

 pennies with them, and the tokens could be exchanged and 

 current coin obtained for them at certain houses in the various 

 towns. He also exhibited tokens with representaions of Edin- 

 burgh University and the Register House ; and one dated 

 1796, issued by Campbell, who kept a snuff shop in St. Andrew 

 Street, Edinburgh. The man Spence already referred to issued, 

 he thought, most of the Scotch tokens — about 70 or 80 — 

 which, with his others, cost him about ten years in jail. 

 However, he was a most indefatigable man. (Laughter.) In 

 connection with the trade done at southern cattle markets by 

 Scotch traders last century, Mr SuUey referred to an iron plate 



