428 
In the County of Somerset at this period Tokens are known 
to have been issued at 68 towns and villages, the earliest date 
appearing on a Somerset Token being 1651, and the latest 1671, 
the different issues known being 345. No pence and but few 
halfpence were then issued in the County, and the Bath issues 
were solely of farthing value. 
In 1697 appeared a work by John Evelyn, F.R.S. (who in 1654 
visited Bath), entitled ‘‘Numismata: A Discourse on Medals,” 
and in this occurs ‘‘The Tokens which every Tavern and 
Tippling House (in the days of late Anarchy amongst us) 
presumed to stamp and utter for immediate Exchange, as they 
were passable through the Neighbourhood, which tho seldom 
reaching farther than the next Street, or two, may happily in after 
times, come to exercise and busie the learned Critic, what they 
should signifie, and fill whole Volumes, with their Conjectures.” 
This somewhat sneering prophecy has been amply fulfilled by 
many enthusiastic writers and collectors, and while not professing 
to be a “learned Critic” I hope that the material I have 
gathered (although far from complete) as to the issue and the 
issuers of Bath ‘Tokens in the 17th Century, may add to the 
knowledge of our local history, and aid towards the closing of a 
controversy which a few years ago was carried on with con- 
siderable acrimony, as to the correct armorial bearings of the 
City. 
Bath in the 17th Century has been dealt with by many writers, 
but so great is the opulence of its story that anything approaching 
an authentic history of the City during that period remains still 
to be written. 
The description of the 17th Century City, given possibly not 
without bias, by John Wood, in 1749, in his “ Essay Towards a 
Description of Bath,” as a small City of mean and foul streets and 
of still meaner buildings, all alike destitute of comfort and of 
decency, has by most writers since been accepted and used 
as accurate, regardless of the fact that such disparaging statements 
