By FP. Ul. Willis. 393 
quickly and almost entirely from the market, though in the outlying 
districts the number of ordinary issuers continued to be as great as ever. 
Some few corporations had, it is true, adopted the above course 
several years before—four or five even during the time of the Com- 
monwealth—but had, with the exception of Bristol, discontinued 
the practice as soon as the demand for small change was met by 
individual enterprise. Such, however, were for the most part now 
compelled to resume the issue of their town farthings, and the fact 
that Oxford, Newbury, and Salisbury failed to do so gives colour to 
the supposition that the majority of those, who formed the Councils 
then in office, had tokens of their own either in circulation or con- 
templation and selfishly allowed their private interests to stand in the 
way of those of their fellow-citizens. But whatever may have been 
the reason, the governing bodies of these three places had occasion 
to congratulate themselves on their past inertness, when in 1670 an 
order was issued for the suppression of all illegal money, and several 
cities obtained pardon for their unlawful practices only after much 
trouble and considerable expense. In 1672 this order was confirmed 
by Royal proclamation, a recognised copper coinage was introduced, 
and England saw the last of her tokens for many years to come.! 
How burthensome to the country the latter had been during the 
last few years of their circulation will be the better understood by 
turning to the pages of the revised “ Boyne,” where will be found 
a description of nearly thirteen thousand pieces—a long and imposing 
catalogue indeed, but probably far from a complete one! Of this num- 
ber Mr. W. Cunnington, F.G.S., as sub-editor, has credited this 
county with two hundred and seventy-four, and the congratulations 
and thanks of all collectors are due to him for having thus supple- 
mented the original list with no less than eighty-two fresh varieties. 
By the courtesy and kind permission of Dr. Williamson particulars 
of this valuable addition to the Wilts series are here extracted from 
his work. 
No. in 
eet, ALDBOURNE. 
a, IOHN . ADEE. OF . ALBORN —=1I.A i 
WILTSHER = The Mercers’ arms. 
1 In Ireland the issue was continued until 1679. 
