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the Civil War this was not carried out. The death of the king put an end to the 

 exdusive right of coining, and the tokens which form the subject of this paper 

 began to appear, a few being dated 164S, and in a few years increased to a great 

 extent, until 1072, when they were put down by proclamation of King Cliarles II., 

 who then established the regal copper currency, which has continued to our own 

 day, by the issue of farthings and halfpennies, bearing on the reverse the well- 

 known figure of Britannia. 



The tokens were of the values of penny, halfpenny, and farthing, the Here- 

 fordshire series consisting principally of halfpennies, there being few farthings, and 

 only one penny. They were struck both in brass and copper, r()und, octagonal, 

 square, and heart-shaped, the two latter being least common. Our county series 

 contains specimens of each shape. They usually bear round the circumference of 

 obverse the name and trade of the issuer, and in centre either the arms of the 

 trade, the arms of the issuer himself, or some device ; and round the reverse the 

 name of the town or place of issue, with the initials of the issuer and his wife in 

 centre, the initial of surname being placed above those of the Christian names of 

 the man and wife. 



These interesting mementoes of our forefathers have had their historians. 

 Snelling, in his View of the copper coin and coinage of England (17CG), giving a very 

 full account of their origin, and an interesting description of their character and 

 peculiarities, with four plates illustrating IGO different pieces, including one of the 

 city of Hereford. 



The next work treating of the subject generally, entitled — Tokens issued in the 

 seventeenth century in England, Wales, and Ireland, by Corporations, Merchants, 

 Tradesmen, tOc, described and illustrated by William lioyne, F.S.A., published in 

 1858, is the accepted standard authority on this branch of numismatics, describing 

 nearly ten thousand tokens, and illustrating a great many. Since the publication 

 of Boyne's valuable work, great numbers of tokens have turned up, and it is by the 

 separate publication of lists of the different counties that these are described, and 

 much has been done in this way, but, so far as I know, no complete Herefordshire 

 list has been published in a separate form. 



Price, in his History of Leominster, published in 1795, gives a plate of six 

 tokens of that town ; and in his History of Hereford the same author gives a 

 wood-cut of the Hereford Corporation token. Duncumb, in his history of the 

 county, describes incorrectly three tokens of Hereford, but says nothing of those 

 issued in other towns. The best list of the Hereford series is given by the late 

 Richard Johnson, in his Ancient Customs of the City of Hereford, while in other 

 local histories, viz., Parry's Kington, Townsend's Leominster, The Ledhury Guide, 

 Ac, appear short lists of the tokens issued in those places. In the Hereford 

 Free Liljrary, there are drawings of nineteen tokens made for the late Thomas 

 Bird, Esq., Clerk of the Peace for the count}', from specimens in the collection 

 of the late John Allen, Esq. 



Of local collections of these pieces, one of the best I know is that of Mrs. 

 Johnson, The Steppes, Hereford. Boyne describes 41 tokens as belonging to this 

 county, but one of tliosc bulong.s to Essex, and another i.s a duplicate <lescription. 



