183 



HEREFOEDSHIEE TOKENS OF THE SEVENTEENTH 



CENTUEY, WITH NOTES ON THE ISSUEES 



THEEEOF. 



By Mr. James W. Llotd. 



Mk. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen,— It is with great diffidence and hesitation 

 that I appear before you, fellow members and friends of the Woolhope Naturalists' 

 Field Club, to speak on so dry a subject as "Tokens," one which is so far removed 

 from the usual line of our pursuits. 



Following, however, in the steps of some of our esteemed members, I venture 

 to bring before you to-day a few notes on the earliest copper currency of the 

 county, and on the issuers thereof— our forefathers— for the pieces I am about to 

 describe, tell us nothing of kings and queens— but simply of the people ; and by 

 their means the names of many industrious and thriving tradesmen of our towns 

 and villages, at one of the most interesting periods of our history, have been 

 handed down to us ; men who acquired fortunes and estates, and founded families, 

 whose descendants still live among us distinguished in most of the higher walks of 

 life. Before proceeding to describe the tokens which were issued in the city and 

 county of Hereford, it will be desirable, for the benefit of my non-numismatic 

 hearers, to give a brief outline of their origin. 



From the earliest periods of our history, the small coinage of this country was 

 of silver only, viz., the penn}', halfpenny, and farthing; and these, from their 

 small size, were of course troublesome, and easily lost. The need of a more useful 

 and tangible currency was gradually increasing, and in the reign of Elizabeth 

 efforts were made to supply the deficiency, but owing to the necessity for restoring 

 the standard of the silver money, which had been greatly debased in the reign of 

 her father, Henry "VIII., nothing was done beyond striking pattern pieces for a 

 copper currency, and the issue of a small number for circulation in Ireland. 

 Authority was also granted by Elizabeth to the Mayor and Corporation of Bristol 

 to issue a farthing token, but this was solely for the use of that city, and of no 

 benefit to the country generally. 



Leaden tokens were then issued by the people, but they served only to show 

 the increasing necessity for a general circulating medium. 



James I., in the year 1613, granted a patent for the issue of farthings to John 

 Baron Harington, and Charles I. renewed the patent on his accession. 



These pieces, however, like their predecessors, the silver farthings, were ex- 

 tremely small, and of mere nominal value, and, being issued in great quantities, 

 ultimately became an intolerable nuisance, and the source of great loss to the 

 holders from the refusal of the patentees to re-change them. In consequence of 

 the public dissatisfaction, these pieces were suppressed by order of the House of 

 Commons in 1644, and it is supposed it was the intention of the Government to 

 issue an authorised copper currency, as pattern pieces were struck, but owing to 



