341 
The /ournal of December 16th contains a vigorous reply to 
this letter, over the signature A.B.C., in which “Francis Ellis, 
Esq.,” is pointedly but not politely requested, as he disapproves of 
the Bath Tokens, to suggest, if he can, a better way of meeting 
the scarcity of change, and mentions “ that if the liberality of the 
Bank had supplied the Country with a sufficiency of their Tokens 
as change, all such Provincial Tokens would never have been 
_ thought of,” and in the same issue a letter signed ‘‘A Tradesman” 
_ refers to the melting down of Silver Coin for sale as Bullion, and 
states that “to this circumstance may be attributed the incon- 
"venience so sorely felt by Tradesmen in general, who having often 
_ sustained great losses through the want of change, so far from 
manifesting the dissatisfaction mentioned in Mr. Ellis’s letter, 
gladly take Bath tokens and justly consider the issuers worthy of 
public thanks! And, let it be remembered, that these Tokens 
_ bear the issuer’s promise to pay the nominal value for them, and 
‘no one acquainted with this City, will doubt of their ability of 
making good their engagements.” 
_ On the same date Dr. Wilkinson writes “that the Bank tokens 
are not of the purity of standard silver,” and that he has tested 
“the Bank Tokens and find(s) the alloy 9 per cent.,” and 
continues that ‘‘it has been erroneously stated that as many Bank 
Tokens have been sent to Bath and Bristol, as to enable each 
person to have 20s. change, and that the provincial Tokens have 
prevented the influx of the Bank Tokens” “to Bath only two 
parcels of £2500 each have been sent,” “ how inadequate such a 
sum must be to relieve the distress commercial men sustained,” 
nd suggests to those opposing the Tokens that they should 
“enquire of any Tradesman in the City, and presumes there is 
