UC-NRLF 
 
 THE TOKEN MONEY 
 
 OJ 
 
 ch 
 
 THE BANK OF ENGLAND, 
 
 1797 TO 1816. 
 
 
 BY. 
 
 MABERLY PHILLIPS, F.S.A. 
 
 Author of BANKS, BANKERS AND BANKING IN NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM 
 AND NORTH YORKSHIRE. 
 
 EFFINGHAM WILSON: ROYAL EXCHANGE, LONDON. 
 ANDREW DICKSON : NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. 
 
 TWO SHILLINGS & SIXPENCE. 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Class 
 

THE TOKEN MONEY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE BANK OF ENGLAND, 
 
 1797 TO 1816. 
 
 BY 
 
 MABERLY PHILLIPS, F.S.A. 
 1 i 
 
 Author of BANKS, BANKERS AND BANKING IN NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM 
 AND NORTH YORKSHIRE. 
 
 EFFINGHAM WILSON: ROYAL EXCHANGE, LONDON 
 ANDREW DICKSON: NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. 
 
 TWO SHILLINGS & SIXPENCE. 
 
LONDON C 
 
 -\VATERLO\V AND SONS LIMITED, POINTERS, LONDON WALL, B.C. 
 I QOO. 
 
 GENERAL 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 BY MABERLY PHILLIPS, F.S.A. 
 
 Author of BANKS, BANKERS AND BANKING IN NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM 
 AND NORTH YORKSHIRE'. 
 
 THE present time the coinage of the country- 
 gold, silver and bronze is in such excellent 
 condition, and so easily exchanged, that many 
 people forget, and many more are ignorant of 
 the fact, that such a state of things has not always prevailed. 
 And further, that during the closing years of the past, and the 
 early years of the present century, the great circulating 
 medium in silver was not issued by the Government, but by 
 the Bank of England, the Bank of Ireland, and sundry 
 country bankers and traders, in the form of Spanish dollars, 
 countermarked with an English stamp, and tokens in silver of 
 various denominations. 
 
 Before entering into an account of this remarkable 
 currency, it may be well to review the circumstances that 
 necessitated such an exceptional issue. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the present condition of the 
 coinage has been attained without a great deal of thought 
 and hard work by the Government and the Bank of England. 
 For many years all the silver passing through the hands of 
 the " Old Lady " has been vigilantly examined, and all the 
 worn money extracted. About two millions and a half in 
 silver is annually inspected, out of which nearly three hundred 
 thousand pounds is withdrawn and sent to the Mint to be 
 re-coined. 
 
 The difficulties experienced in bringing the gold coin to 
 its present state have been great. From time to time many 
 attempts have been made, and many expedients adopted, to 
 draw in the light money. In all such cases the loss was 
 thrown upon the last holder, so that the bankers' policy was 
 to avoid, rather than accept, all offers made by the Govern- 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ment. Not till the passing of the present Gold Act, when 
 the Government virtually undertook to bear the loss upon all 
 coins not tampered with, was the question satisfactorily settled. 
 The pages of history reveal many interesting incidents, and 
 show that not only had the question of fair wear and tear to 
 be dealt with, but a warfare had constantly to be carried on 
 against the clipper and coiner of both gold and silver. As 
 early as 1564 John Bennet, master of the ordnance, was in 
 trouble for coining " hard-heads,"^ a small coin of mixed silver 
 and copper ; and many have been his followers down to the 
 present day. Coining has been almost entirely confined to 
 
 HARD-HEAD. 
 
 the lower ranks of society, but clipping was quite a fine art, 
 and was practised by all classes. It was no uncommon thing 
 for respectable people to carry a small file and apply it 
 scientifically to each silver coin that passed through their 
 hands, disposing of the filings to their silversmith. In many 
 cases clipping was carried out in a most systematic manner. 
 The Vicar of Bothal, near Morpeth, was a notorious sinner. 
 He is known to have sent to a Newcastle silversmith filings 
 that realized upwards of ^200. Daniel Auty was an adept 
 in the art, and was in the habit of paying a small commission 
 for the loan of ^100 in silver for a few days, out of which he 
 boasted he could extract about three shillings of every pound. 
 
 * Hard heada, small coin of mixed metal or copper. " The hard head is really the 
 French hardie, Scotified. The hardie is supposed to be so called from Philip le Hardi, 
 under whom they were first struck, and who began to reign in 1270." Pinkerton, Essay on 
 Medals, 1789, ii., no. " Dailie there war such numbers of Lions (alias called Hardheids) 
 prented, that the basenes thareof maid all thingis exceiding dear." Knox, Historie of the 
 Reformation, p. 147. " It is evident that the coin also bearing a lion, struck under Mary, 
 1559, had previously received this name. For the complaint quoted from Knox refers to this 
 year." Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary. 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 He eventually came to an untimely end, being murdered by 
 his son-in-law, an accomplice in his nefarious practice. 
 
 Clipping was perhaps at its height when Fleetwood in 
 1694 preached his famous sermon against it before the Lord 
 Mayor of London, advocating death as its just penalty. 
 
 An illustration of a half-crown of Charles I. may give 
 some idea of the debasement of the coinage at that time. 
 
 / 
 
 The upper coin represents the obverse and reverse as it left 
 the Mint ; the lower is a piece of the same period, after it had 
 passed through the hands of various " clippers." 
 
 The introduction of a milled edge to the coins greatly put 
 a stop to the practice. This difficulty was, however, over- 
 come by one William Guest, a teller in the Bank of England, 
 who was proved to have been in the habit of filing some of 
 the guineas in his charge, and afterwards making a newly 
 milled edge with an ingenious machine invented by himself. 
 Nearly five pounds' weight of gold filings was found in 
 Guest's house. 
 
 Passing on to the last decade of the eighteenth century, 
 we find the coinage of the country in a deplorable condition, 
 
6 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 both as to quality and quantity. In 1793 a commercial panic 
 swept over the land, that brought down numerous country 
 bankers who had an enormous note issue. In spite of 
 meetings held in London and all over the country pledging 
 confidence in paper money, a general distrust of all bank- 
 notes arose, everybody procuring and retaining coin as far as 
 possible. The Government were making enormous demands 
 upon the Bank of England. An invasion of the country was 
 hourly expected. Military and volunteer camps lined the 
 coast. Farmers caught the panic, and rushed their grain to 
 market and sold it for any price, receiving notes in payment. 
 These, as far as possible; they immediately converted into 
 cash. The Bank of England, then as now the country's 
 great storehouse for bullion, was taxed to the utmost. Its 
 resources were so nearly exhausted that, to save a national 
 panic, the Government stepped in. The Privy Council held 
 a meeting at Whitehall on Sunday, February 26, 1797, at 
 which an order was issued for the Bank to suspend its cash 
 payments. Naturally such a step greatly increased the 
 demand for change. Five pounds was the smallest note then 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
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TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
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 : SIIH.LIKCJ, A/ // 
 
 /* <#we>. * T ( '/AM/AW7' STREET. 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 9 
 
 issued by the Bank, and these they were ordered not to pay 
 in cash. To facilitate matters, an Act was passed suspending 
 an Act then in existence, which prohibited the issue of small 
 notes. The Threadneedle Street establishment gave notice 
 that they were about to issue notes for i and 2. The 
 country bankers were only too ready to avail themselves of 
 such a concession, and very shortly issued notes for i and 
 i. is., ios., and smaller sums. These provisions did not 
 remove the difficulty. Those who had change naturally 
 clung to it, and would only part under a heavy commis- 
 sion. 
 
 The Government were in possession of a large number of 
 Spanish dollars that had at various times been found in vessels 
 the English had captured. (Subsequently, in 1804, one 
 Spanish treasure ship, valued at 3,000,000 dollars, was seized 
 by the English.) It was thought that if these coins were 
 counter-marked by the English Government they would 
 circulate and tend to relieve the pressure for change. Accord- 
 ingly arrangements were made with the Mint authorities to 
 carry out this project. On March 6 the following notice 
 appeared : " In order to accommodate the public with 
 a further supply of coin for small payments, a quantity of 
 dollars, which have been supplied by the Bank and stamped 
 at the Mint, are now ready to be issued at the price of 45. 6d. 
 per dollar, and a further quantity is preparing." Fortunately, 
 before the day for issuing them arrived, it was discovered that 
 the bullion value of the dollar was 45. Sd., so that, had they 
 been issued, they would at once have been melted down at a 
 profit of 2d. per coin. To rectify this error the following 
 notice appeared on March 9 : " In consequence of its appear- 
 ing to be the general opinion that the dollars will be more 
 conveniently circulated at the rate of 4^. gd. than at that of 
 45. 6d., notice is hereby given that dollars are now ready to be 
 delivered at 4^. gd. per dollar." 
 
 The coins thus issued were Spanish pillar dollars of various 
 dates. They were counter-marked by having the King's head 
 
10 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 used at Goldsmiths' Hall for marking silver plate, stamped 
 upon the neck of the Spanish king. 
 
 The first appearance of so extraordinary a coin naturally 
 led to considerable comment. The u City wag " was to the 
 fore, as in the present day, and the following couplet soon 
 appeared : 
 
 The Bank, to make their Spanish Dollars pass, 
 Stamped the head of a fool on the head of an ass. 
 
 In spite of this, there was a great rush for the dollar. 
 Notes were at a discount, as the Bank was under orders not to 
 give gold for them. Naturally, the frightened public was 
 anxious to seize the opportunity of getting silver, which 
 appeared the next best thing. The Bank was thronged with 
 eager applicants, and many had to wait their turn for payment ; 
 but as there appeared to be an endless supply of dollars, day 
 by day the demand fell, until those who really required change 
 were the only customers. From reports subsequently rendered, 
 no less than 2,325,099 of these dollars were issued, represent- 
 ing a value of ,552,211. os. $d. 
 
 In a very short time the Bank found that the plan would 
 not work. Other dollars were obtained by dealers, an imita- 
 tion stamp of the King's head was made, and, by simply 
 stamping, the dollar of bullion value of \s. 8</. was increased 
 to 4$. <^d. at the expense of the Bank of England, as it was 
 impossible to distinguish between the coins stamped at the 
 Mint and those fraudulently marked. A great number of 
 counterfeit coins were also passed into circulation. 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. II 
 
 The Gazette of September 26 contains a notice to the 
 effect that the Speaker of the House of Commons had 
 announced that the Bank of England meant to issue gold coin 
 to the amount of the dollars circulated. This was followed 
 on September 28 by a notice from the Bank that they would 
 give cash for dollars every day from Monday, October 2, until 
 the 3 ist of the month (Sundays excepted), at the rate of 45. gd. 
 per dollar, and that these coins would not be current after the 
 date named. It was also stated that, to avoid confusion, no 
 smaller quantities than twenty dollars would be accepted. 
 This announcement entailed great hardship on small holders, 
 and the Bank, seeing this, issued in the St. James's Chronicle 
 the following notice, dated October 10 : " The extreme 
 difficulty in distinguishing dollars stamped at the Tower from 
 those with a counterfeit stamp having nearly stopped the 
 circulation of dollars ever since the notice for calling them in, 
 has afforded an opportunity to some dealers in silver to buy 
 them indiscriminately at a very inferior price to the current 
 value of legally stamped dollars, by which means the innocent 
 holders suffer a heavy loss ; the consideration of this circum- 
 stance has induced the directors of the Bank to permit their 
 cashiers to receive all real good dollars, whether the stamp be 
 counterfeit or not, and to exchange them at the rate of ^s. gd. 
 each for all persons who appear to have taken them in the fair 
 way of currency or business. This indulgence will be 
 continued until Saturday, the 2ist inst., unless it should 
 become necessary to withdraw it by the attempts of evil- 
 minded and dishonest persons to impose on the Bank. The 
 Bank not taking in smaller sums than twenty dollars in a 
 parcel, it is earnestly wished that bankers and shopkeepers 
 will exchange smaller sums of dollars for such individuals as 
 may otherwise not be able to pass them at. full rate of 4^. gel. 
 a dollar ; by which they will materially contribute to the ease 
 and benefit of the public. 
 
 " It is thought necessary to add that the Bank never has 
 made any objection to dollars for having a notch cut on the 
 edge for the purpose of ascertaining the metal, provided there 
 
12 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 has not appeared a fraudulent intention to diminish the weight 
 of the piece." 
 
 Though not mentioned by any of the authorities that I 
 have consulted, it is evident that about this time the Bank or 
 the Government contemplated the issue of a dollar of their 
 own, though from some unexplained cause it was never carried 
 out. A proof coin in bronze here illustrated bears out this 
 opinion. 
 
 Obverse. GEORGIUS III. DEI GRATIA Laureated bust of the 
 King to the right, draped. On the edge of the drapery C.H.K., the initials 
 of KUCHLER, the engraver. 
 
 Reverse. W. B. F. ET. H. REX. F. D. B. ET. L. D. S. R. I. A. T. ET. E. 
 1798. 
 
 MAGN^E BRITANNIA FRANCIS ET HIBERNI^E REX FIDEI DEFENSOR 
 BRVNSVICENSIS ET LVNEBVRGENSIS DVX SACRI ROMANORVM IMPERII ARCHI 
 THESAVRARIVS ET ELECTOR. (King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, 
 Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Arch Treasurer 
 and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire.) 
 
 SHIELD OF ARMS. Quarterly : i, England impaling Scotland; 2, France ; 
 3, Ireland ; 4, Hanover. 
 
 Upon comparison, it will be seen that the King's head and 
 inscription on the obverse are exactly the same as that on the 
 dollar subsequently issued by the Bank of England in 1804. 
 It is accepted by numismatists as a forerunner of this dollar. 
 
 In 1798 a very curious coinage appeared. It can hardly 
 be considered token money, but the incident may be interesting 
 here, and it is certainly indicative of the times. Shillings had 
 not been coined at the Mint since 1787, and were consequently 
 like other silver pieces, remarkably scarce. A firm of London 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 13 
 
 bankers, Messrs. Dorrien & Magens, remembered that the 
 Act had never been repealed which ordered that anyone 
 sending silver bullion to the Mint could have it coined into 
 money upon payment of certain fees. Accordingly, they sent 
 bullion, requesting that it should be coined into shillings. 
 The Mint authorities admitted their responsibility, and duly 
 coined the money, adopting for the purpose the general 
 character of the die with which the last issue of that coin 
 (1787) had been struck, the difference being that on the 
 obverse a small dot over the King's head was omitted, and 
 on the reverse the lettering round the edge was rather larger. 
 The current date (1798) was inserted. The bankers, on a 
 certain day by appointment, were to fetch their coin, but on 
 the same morning the Mint authorities received an Order in 
 Council prohibiting them parting with the money, and instruct- 
 ing them to melt it all into bullion again, the Government 
 stating that the proceedings were irregular, and no coin was 
 lawful unless issued under Royal proclamation. The account 
 is given in Hawkins' Silver Coins of England. The writer 
 adds : " Very few indeed of these pieces escaped the crucible ; 
 a few specimens, however, exist." 
 
 It will be seen that the lettering round the reverse is the 
 same as in the previous illustration. The coin here repro- 
 duced is from the writer's cabinet ; it was previously in the 
 " Addington Collection," and is considered the finest specimen 
 extant. 
 
 The action of Messrs. Dorrien & Magens was evidently 
 responsible for the following : 
 
 "On the 2ist of June (1798) the Act of the i4th of the 
 King, intituled, An Act to prohibit the importation of light 
 
14 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 silver coin of this realm from foreign countries into Great 
 Britain or Ireland, and to restrain the tender thereof beyond 
 a certain sum, being then expired, was revived, and further 
 continued to the ist day of June, 1799, by a new statute." 
 
 Among other things it stated that, as the King had 
 appointed a committee to go into the state of the coinage, it 
 was deemed expedient to cease coining for the present. It 
 also recited that " whereas, from the low price of silver bullion, 
 owing to temporary circumstances, a small quantity of silver 
 bullion had been brought to the Mint to be coined, and there 
 was reason to suppose that a still further quantity might be 
 brought, and it was therefore necessary to suspend the coinage 
 of silver." No silver was to be coined at the Mint, any coined 
 was not to be delivered, and all persons who had brought 
 bullion to be coined prior to May 9, 1798, were to be recouped 
 to the amount of bullion they had deposited. 
 
 Though not publicly stated, it appears that the issue of the 
 dollar of the original counter-marked type was quietly resumed 
 in January, 1803, and that the old enemies, spurious coin and 
 forged counter-marks, soon gave much trouble to the authori- 
 ties. 
 
 Early in 1804 a notice was issued stating it was found that 
 the stamp impressed upon the dollar had been frequently 
 counterfeited. The Mint authorities were therefore instructed 
 to " prepare the necessary means of stamping, in an octagon 
 form, the head then used for impressing the silver penny, with- 
 out the inscription." The reverse of the coin was the same 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 15 
 
 as those first issued. The change in the stamp had little 
 effect. In a very short time counterfeits were unpleasantly 
 plentiful. 
 
 In the same year, from a proof coin here illustrated, it is 
 evident that a fresh issue of the dollar was contemplated, but 
 from some cause it was never adopted. 
 
 Obverse. GEORGIUS III. DEI GRATIA Laureated bust of the 
 King to the right, draped. (This design is also by Kuchler.) 
 
 Reverse. BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR. The Royal 
 Arms within the garter, and motto. Above, crown and date 1804; below, 
 Dollar. 
 
 It will be noted that the illustration and wording upon 
 obverse and reverse appertain only to the Government ; and 
 this may have been the cause of its non-acceptance, as the 
 coin that was issued at this time had the impress of the Bank 
 of England on the reverse. 
 
 On May 12 a combination dollar was announced, having 
 the authoritative impress of the Government on one side, and 
 the Bank of England on the other the first time in the annals 
 of our coinage that such a partnership had been displayed. 
 His Majesty's head, and the inscription, " Georgius III. Dei 
 Gratia Rex," was to adorn one side, and on the other was to 
 be the figure of Britannia, with the words, " Five Shillings 
 Dollar, Bank of England, 1804." The design is also by 
 Kuchler. 
 
 Both these dollars were really the same old friends served 
 in a new guise. Mr. Boulton, of Soho, Birmingham, a 
 
l6 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 gentleman who had undertaken the manufacture of copper 
 coin for the Government, had erected very powerful machinery, 
 whereby he proposed by one stamp to efface the original 
 impress of the old Spanish pillar dollar and substitute the 
 matter just quoted. This, as a rule, was most efficiently done, 
 but on careful inspection of some of the coins, faint tracings 
 of the Spanish impressions may yet be discerned. 
 
 Again public comment was freely called forth, a coin 
 having a Latin inscription on one side, and an English on the 
 other, was a new departure. William Cobbett, in one of his 
 political tracts, written while he was a prisoner in Newgate, 
 in his sarcastic manner remarks upon the " arms " of the 
 Bank of England, " What arms the Bank may have, or how 
 it became entitled to any arms at all, or whether arms ought 
 to be held in esteem after having been so bestowed, are 
 questions which, if we had more leisure, it would perhaps be 
 worth while to discuss." 
 
 The notice that heralded the appearance of the new dollar 
 stated that it was expedient to withdraw the old. Therefore, 
 all those stamped at His Majesty's Mint, at the Tower, since 
 January, 1803, would be received at the Bank at 5$. each in 
 exchange for bank notes or dollars of the new type, and that 
 they would not be accepted after June 2. To avoid confusion, 
 and prevent crowding at the Bank, no parcel of less than 
 eight dollars would be taken in. The issue of the new dollar 
 was commenced on May 21, 1804. 
 
 Great difficulty arose in exchanging the old dollars, the 
 counterfeits both in metal and marks were so good and so 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. i; 
 
 numerous. The tellers at the Bank were mystified ; they had 
 no guide to go by ; a coin was refused by one clerk and 
 subsequently accepted by another. This doubt, conjointly 
 with the fact that parcels of less than eight coins were not 
 accepted, naturally created much discontent among the poor, 
 who could ill afford the loss of time or money involved. Only 
 a few days passed before the new dollars were counterfeited 
 in large numbers, although it was confidently asserted that 
 Mr. Boulton's process would " totally prevent clandestine 
 imitation." 
 
 In vindication of Mr. Boulton a long dissertation (which I 
 give in a footnote) appeared, dated Birmingham, August 6. 
 It shows the system on which the dollars were stamped, and 
 gives elaborate instruction for the detection of forgeries, which 
 rather savours of the old advice given to young bird- 
 catchers.^ 
 
 About this time great difficulties were experienced in 
 Ireland from the scarcity of silver, and the trouble and 
 
 * "A great number of counterfeit dollars having found their way into circulation it may be 
 necessary to caution the public against taking them, and to point out the difference between 
 the counterfeit and the good dollar. The Spanish dollars entrusted to Mr. Boulton to recoin 
 amounted to two millions ; these were of different sizes in their original state, some of them 
 a quarter of an inch in diameter larger than the others. In recoining these, Mr. Boulton 
 judged it expedient to have them struck in a steel collar ; in consequence of which all the 
 pieces in that coin were perfectly round when recoined, and precisely of the same diameter. 
 Previous to this process, the Spanish dollars, though of various sizes, were nearly of a weight ; 
 those of a larger diameter were, of course, thinner than the small diameter, From the great 
 difference in their size it was thought necessary to assort them into three classes, called the 
 first, second and third class, for the purpose of distinguishing the true dollar from the bad. 
 Mr. Boulton then directed a gauge-plate to be made, which plate exactly fits either of the 
 numbers, I, 2 or 3, and by which the false dollar may very easily be detected. 
 
 There are two ways of measuring, namely, either horizontally or vertically. The plate 
 measures the circumference, the thickness and the diameter. The public may very easily 
 detect the false and counterfeit dollars, of which there are two sorts, by attending to the 
 weight of them. A good dollar, recoined by Mr. Boulton, weighs, averaging one with 
 another, 416 grains, and the thickest of the false dollars weighs only 375 grains, the thinnest 
 not more than 310 grains. The average, therefore, is 41 grains in the thickest counterfeits 
 less than the good dollar, and in the thinnest 106 grains less. This is a sure criterion, by 
 which the public may easily discover the difference between the bad and the good. It is the 
 intention of Mr. Boulton to make a sufficient number of gauges alluded to for sale ; they are 
 not yet completed ; when they are, the public will be in possession of two modes of trial, by 
 which they may infallibly secure themselves from imposition. It is necessary also to observe 
 that the edges of the true dollars are perfectly flat, while those of the false ones are not so, 
 but have a sort of rim down the middle, which may be plainly distinguished by a glass." 
 
18 
 
 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 inconvenience suffered in procuring change. In order to 
 relieve this, the Bank of Ireland issued tokens for various 
 sums, and many of the private bankers floated " silver notes " 
 for extraordinary amounts. Upon this subject I hope to 
 give fuller information at a later period. 
 
 I can only find official notice for counter-marking dollars. 
 But it is evident from coins in existence that half-dollars, 
 quarters, and eighths, were all counter-marked. 
 
 The coins here illustrated bear the same counter-marks as 
 the early dollar. The half and quarter-dollar were also 
 counter-marked with the octagon stamp. The quarter and 
 eighth of a dollar are rarely to be met with. 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 19 
 
 During the period under review numerous Acts were 
 passed to try and intimidate the counterfeiter. The penalty 
 for forging or uttering a forged note of the Bank of England 
 was death. Two hundred and seven lives were sacrificed 
 (many being women) between 1805 and 1818. Evidently 
 the extreme penalty was also passed for counterfeiting and 
 counterfeit marking. In 1797 two men, H. T. Palmer and 
 Maurice Stampford, were sentenced to death for this offence. 
 In the seven years ending 1818 sixty-three persons were 
 convicted one was executed. During the next seven years 
 only fourteen were convicted, but of these five were executed. 
 Subsequently the penalty was reduced to fourteen years' 
 transportation. 
 
 The issue of the Irish tokens checked the circulation 
 of spurious money in that country, so the manufacturers of it 
 at once exported it to England, where, on account of the 
 great scarcity of change, much of it was accepted. Towards 
 the end of 1804 it was in such evidence that a circular letter 
 was issued from the Secretary of State's office to the " several 
 lords-lieutenants of counties, in which it was represented that 
 much mischief was likely to arise from the frauds committed 
 by the issuing of counterfeit silver coins chiefly brought from 
 Ireland, and frequently stamped, the better to deceive the 
 public ; and from an erroneous opinion having prevailed that 
 because it was once current in Ireland (though since 
 suppressed there) it was not unlawful in England.' 7 
 Magistrates were to issue notices warning the public, traders 
 were advised to secure persons offering this money, and 
 further, the solicitor to His Majesty's Mint would prosecute at 
 the public expense. In December the Lord Mayor of 
 London issued his notice, adding : " The above counterfeit 
 coin is not only very light but base in quality, and will be 
 readily known from the thinness of both shillings and six- 
 pences, and their being marked with a number of letters and 
 figures." 
 
20 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 In 1805 further difficulties arose in the way of procuring 
 change. A sudden rise in the price of copper rendered the 
 penny and twopenny pieces of more than face value. They 
 were, therefore, melted down, and almost entirely disappeared 
 from circulation. 
 
 Under such circumstances as I have narrated, the silver 
 and token coinage of the country struggled on. The few 
 who had dollars or mint coins hoarded them, to the great 
 inconvenience of the many. The difficulty in procuring 
 change became greater and greater until 1 8 1 1 , when a new 
 phase of the token money commenced. A preliminary hint 
 of the coming change was given in the House of Commons, 
 on April 1 1, 1810, by Mr. Manning, Deputy Governor of the 
 Bank of England, who stated " that the Bank were about to 
 issue a large quantity of dollars, and he observed that those 
 persons who were hoarding them in expectation that they 
 would rise in price would be disappointed." Shortly after- 
 wards it was stated that more dollars had been issued, and that 
 ^"300 worth had been sent to each of the banking houses in 
 London. 
 
 From time to time the value of silver had risen, until at 
 last the bullion exceeded the face value of the dollar. Under 
 such circumstances they speedily found their way to the melt- 
 ing pot, in spite of all pains and penalties enacted for the 
 offence. In a short time the following notice was issued by 
 
 the Bank : 
 
 Bank of England, 
 
 March u, 1811. 
 BANK DOLLAR TOKENS. 
 
 Whereas the Price of Silver has risen so much since the first Issue of 
 Bank Dollar Tokens at $s. each, as now to make them worth more to be sold 
 as Bullion than the Price at which they are current ; and whereas it has been 
 deemed expedient, at the Recommendation of the Right Honourable the 
 Lords Committee of Privy Council for Coin, in order to prevent their being 
 withdrawn from Circulation, that an additional value nearly proportionate to 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 21 
 
 that at which they were first issued, in relation to their intrinsic value, be now 
 assigned to them, the Government and Company of the Bank of England 
 do therefore hereby give Notice that they have given Orders to their Cashiers 
 and other Officers, from henceforth (until a public Notice to the Contrary of 
 not less than six Months shall have been given), to receive all Bank Dollar 
 Tokens tendered in Payment at the Bank, at the Rate of 55. 6d. each, instead 
 of 55-. as heretofore ; and to pay and to issue all such Bank Dollar Tokens as 
 shall be paid or issued hereafter by them at the same Rate of 55-. 6d. each. 
 
 ROBERT BEST, Secretary. 
 
 This extraordinary action by the Bank brought forth a 
 variety of comments on the subject in the prints of the day. 
 A few extracts may best show the feeling at the time. 
 
 The Bank astonished the town not a little by its sudden and unexpected 
 offer of 55-. 6d. for each of its own 55. dollar tokens. It would excite still 
 more astonishment if that Company would offer a similar premium of 6d. on 
 the return of its one pound notes, or even agree to take them at par. With 
 respect to the dollars, however, the Bank has already been outbid. A dealer 
 in fancy ornaments in St. Martin's Court had put up a large bill in his window 
 inscribed " Dollars taken at $s. yd" (In some cases as much as 6s. was 
 offered.) 
 
 The Morning Chronicle, March 19, 181 1, remarking upon 
 the matter, says : 
 
 This experiment, for it is only an experiment, however, gave a shock to 
 public credit. It was a practical demonstration that bank notes were at a 
 discount ; for persons crowded to the Bank, and for four dollars received a 
 205-. note and 2S. Anything that unsettles the public mind as to credit is 
 dangerous. A rumour was circulated that to equalise the thing guineas must 
 also be raised in their denomination to 265-. or 275-. And because stocks fell 
 it was ignorantly ascribed to this manoeuvre. 
 
 The writer of a letter to the Statesman, dated March 10, 
 181 1, says : 
 
 They will not be a legal tender at 55. 6d., and when the dividends are 
 paid at the Bank the Stockholders, it is to be hoped, will resist an attempt in 
 the Bank, not very legitimate, to levy a tax of ten per cent, on them. The 
 dollars, I know, cost the Bank 4$. nd, each, but this is no excuse for attempt- 
 ing to abuse the public confidence by the measure in question. 
 
22 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 A poet thus expresses his views in Little Ireland, July 19, 
 
 1811 :- 
 
 TOKENS. 
 
 Commerce out-commerced, Credit fled 
 
 Old England looks around with dread ; 
 
 The Coinage takes a higher stand, 
 
 For Assignats infest the Land ; 
 
 And though, to give them circulation, 
 
 They're forced, as Sterling, on the Nation : 
 
 Yet, as the guilty Recreants pass, 
 
 The Guineas fly the hateful mass ; 
 
 And Dollars, Crowns, and Shillings too, 
 
 Loathe th' exchange with such a crew. 
 
 Hence take the Bank, as she stumbles and trips, 
 
 Our Half-Crown-piece, which she cuts and clips, 
 
 Alloys it with copper, and thus debased, 
 
 Diminish'd, and all marks of coin defaced, 
 
 She stamps it afresh as a " Three Shilling Token," 
 
 Puts the Lie in a wreath all acorn'd and oaken ; 
 
 Half repents as she does it she thinks it too good, 
 
 And feels no remorse in coining with Wood y* 
 
 In complaisance then falls on her Bolster of Paper, 
 
 At Lord King snaps her fingers, and dreads not The Draper. 
 
 An essay upon the subject appeared from the press of 
 Messrs. Christopher & Jannett, of Stockton, from which I 
 extract the following : 
 
 An Essay on Bank Tokens, &c., 
 
 By a Briton. 
 
 There are tokens of love ; there are tokens of enmity : in the one case a 
 man just winks, and holds out cold iron. As a love token 
 
 He tuk a white saxpence and brak it in twa, 
 Saying, think of me lassie when I am awa. 
 
 We have lately been favoured with a silver token of our sweet mistress, 
 the Bank. What is the intrinsic value of this silver token thus obtruded 
 upon the many to their disgust, though perhaps to the delight of the favoured 
 few? 
 
 But shall the Bank supersede all law and authority and aggrandise itself 
 by its malversation ? 
 
 Bad company corrupts ; in evil hour did the treasury lord walk arm in 
 arm with the Bank director ; that inveterate gladiator is too powerful for this 
 puny whipster 
 
 Is the house of commons really to depend upon the Bank, whether they 
 shall have these Tokens at 5$. 6d. (and that as a boon), or at 6s., js., ad 
 libitum ? Is it an act of mercy to suspend the issue of the Token of the 
 
 * Wood, a man with whom the Government contracted to force a coin called " Raps " 
 on the Irish. 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 23 
 
 Bank, and are the fasces of the house of commons to be borne before the 
 silver rod of this Mercury and his Juno ? I thought we had a house of 
 commons before whom all Europe trembled, not that the members were 
 mere sycophants of the Bank, a creature of its breath ! O monstrous 
 
 indignity, and injurious to the pride of the universe ! 
 
 But this I apprehend to be the last dying speech of councillor Silvertongue, 
 and the manage a la mode between the Bank and Treasury will, I trust, be 
 speedily dissolved by Act of Parliament. 
 
 Apparently, the writings that I have quoted, and doubtless 
 much more that appeared to the same effect, made no 
 impression upon the Government or the Bank, as in June 
 came a further development of the token issue. On June 26 
 
 (1811) it was publicly announced that the Bank of England 
 intended to issue tokens of 5$. 6d., 35. and is. 6d. An Act 
 was also passed to prevent the counterfeiting or importing 
 counterfeits of these proposed tokens. The large coin was to 
 have on one side His Majesty's head, and the wording: 
 " Georgius III. Dei Gratia Rex " ; and on the reverse " Bank 
 Token, 5.9. 6d., 181 1," in four lines. I can find no authoritative 
 
24 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 corroboration that these 55-. 6d. tokens were ever issued to 
 the public. If they were, it must have been in very small 
 quantities, as they are rarely to be found in the cabinet of any 
 collector. 
 
 Below the drapery on the obverse are two mullets of five 
 points, the engraver's mark. 
 
 Under the ribbon on the reverse, I. P. (Pingo, the 
 engraver). 
 
 The illustration here given is from a proof in bronze. 
 Messrs. Spink & Son kindly informed me that there was a 
 silver proof dollar in the " Montagu Collection," but that 
 they never saw a 55. 6d. dollar of this type that had been in 
 circulation. It is the only instance on any token of the 
 King's head facing to the left. Another pattern was made. 
 Obverse, the same as above. Reverse, " Bank of England 
 Token." Britannia seated, holding a spear in one hand, and 
 the other arm resting on the Union Shield. " Five Shillings 
 and Sixpence, 181 1." 
 
 Of the 35*. and is. 6d. tokens great numbers were issued, 
 and doubtless proved of considerable advantage to the public. 
 The official weight of the coins is given thus : 
 
 Weight. Pure Silver. Alloy, 
 
 dwt. gr. dwt. gr. decim. dwt. gr. decim. 
 
 3/- 9 II 10 408 I o 592 
 
 1/6 4 17/4^ 4 5 204 o 12 296 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 25 
 
 Their first appearance was on July 9, and in a very short 
 time counterfeits were plentiful. The following extract is 
 from St. James s Chronicle, September 26, of the same year 
 (1811):- 
 
 Counterfeits of the . 35. Bank Tokens are in circulation ; they are 
 of the same size and thickness as the true one, but differ in the following 
 particulars : The bust and dress of His Majesty are fainter, the letters are 
 thicker, the wreath is badly executed, appearing swelled and indistinct, and to 
 rise higher than the true one ; the figure 3 is larger ; and the letter o in token, 
 and the figures 1811 hardly legible from the flatness of the die. Their 
 appearance is much whiter, and they sound very dull when rung ; they are of 
 copper, thinly plated, and worth about a penny. On the whole they are 
 executed nearly as well as those issued from the Bank, and it is much to be 
 lamented that the execution of the Bank Token has admitted of so early and 
 easy a counterfeit. Persons to whom any of these counterfeits may be 
 presented, will do a public service by endeavouring to trace the quarter from 
 whence they first came into circulation. 
 
 The want of smaller change was most urgently felt, and 
 this led to the issue of private tokens. Whether such an 
 issue was officially granted, or only on sufferance, I fail to see. 
 
 At any rate a revival of trade tokens took place. Numerous 
 tradesmen, from all parts of the kingdom, issued their own 
 " promises to pay," in is. and 6d. Some formed excellent 
 
26 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 advertisements, as well as being a profitable undertaking. 
 Upon many it was announced that they were issued " for the 
 convenience of the trade." Others bore a promise of redemp- 
 tion by a i note, on the requisite number of tokens being 
 presented to the issuer. A few coins gave no information as 
 to the issuer's name. They were of any weight, and so great 
 was the difficulty in procuring change, that they were freely 
 accepted. Of course, some became of greater note than 
 others. For excellence of design and workmanship, perhaps 
 those issued by John Robertson, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
 are equal to any. They were for 2s. 6d., is. and 6d. 
 
 Evidently, in some parts of the country, the issue of these 
 private tokens, however good they might be, called forth 
 public opposition, as the following notice will show : 
 
 CAUTION 
 TO THE PUBLIC AGAINST TAKING LOCAL SILVER TOKENS. 
 
 Newcastle, Nov. 26, 1811. 
 
 Mr. John Robertson, Silversmith, Dean Street, having by Public 
 Advertizement announced his intention of issuing Silver Tokens for general 
 circulation as shillings and sixpences in this Town and the adjoining Counties, 
 We, the Undersigned, think it necessary to inform the Public that we will not 
 receive in Payment any Tokens which may be issued either by the said Mr. 
 John Robertson or by any other Individual whatever. 
 
 N.B. We have Authority to say, that all local Tokens will be refused in 
 Payment by the regular Bankers in Newcastle. 
 
 The document bears the signatures of 1 20 of the leading 
 tradesmen. 
 
 On the question of the private issue of dollars another 
 writer of the day says : 
 
 Since Ministers have transferred to the Bank of England one 
 
 of the prerogatives of the Crown, that of coining, every other Bank, Banker, 
 Agent, Merchant and Shopkeeper, has taken it for granted that an equal right 
 of assuming a royal prerogative is the privilege of all 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 2/ 
 
 The coin known as the " Whitby Shilling," and a token 
 for the same amount, issued by Cattle and Barber, of York, 
 were the staple silver in Yorkshire. Not only did 'sub- 
 stantial traders, manufacturers and others, enter into this 
 business, but for the first and, I believe, only time, did many 
 bankers of good standing and position issue their own tokens, 
 both silver and copper. The result of this promiscuous issue 
 soon asserted itself. The authentic (so to speak) tokens of 
 the Bank of England began to disappear as they were con- 
 verted into the lighter coins of the trader and banker. I find 
 that four bankers' tokens of is. each, taken haphazard from 
 my cabinet, weigh exactly the same as a $s. token of the 
 Bank of England, and many private issues were even lighter 
 than these. 
 
 I give the values of some provincial tokens taken at 
 Assay Office, York. Weights are given, but I only give the 
 
 Value. Face Value. Intrinsic Value. 
 
 s. d. s. d. 
 
 The Bank Dollar 56 55 
 
 Do 30 2 n^ 
 
 Gloucester 261 10^ 
 
 Doncaster . . . .100 9^ 
 
 Leeds i o o 10^ 
 
 Newcastle (Robertson) . . . . i o o 10^ 
 
 York . . . . . . . 10 o 10 
 
 Whitby 10 o 10 
 
 Derby i o o 7^ 
 
 Charing Cross, London i o o 8^ 
 
 Hull o 6 o 4^ 
 
 York 0604^ 
 
 When they were assayed, the price of silver bullion must 
 have been very high, as the intrinsic value of the Bank of 
 England token is very nearly face value. 
 
 The demand for dollars by the manufacture of private 
 tokens, which in many cases were marked " Spanish Dollar 
 Silver," became so great that numbers were imported from 
 
28 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 our Colonies, especially from the British West Indies, much 
 to the annoyance of the residents there. To prevent this, an 
 
 ingenious scheme was resorted to by the Governor of 
 Trinidad, who issued the following :- 
 
 " DOLLARS IN TRINIDAD. 
 
 " By His Excellency \V. Munro, Major-General, commanding the forces 
 and administering the Government in the Island of Trinidad and its 
 Dependencies. 
 
 "A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " Whereas it has been represented to me, that a great scarcity of current 
 silver specie prevails in this Colony, arising from the large exportation of 
 dollars made from here, and that the only effectual mode of diminishing such 
 exportation, and of retaining in the island a quantity of such specie sufficient 
 for the accommodation of its inhabitants, will be to permit the circulation of 
 a certain number of Cut Dollars, not exceeding in number in the whole 25,000 
 dollars. And, whereas it will be expedient that for the purpose of cutting the 
 said dollars in manner proposed, a proper person, to be paid by and at the 
 expense of the said Colony, shall be authorised to cut from the centre of each 
 of the 25,000 dollars a piece of silver of the value of one shilling; and that, 
 as an inducement to persons in possession of dollars, to allow their dollars to 
 be cut, such dollars shall, when so cut continue to pass and be received at 
 the rate or value of nine shillings each, and that the piece to be cut out of 
 each of the said dollars shall pass current for one shilling, and shall be 
 delivered to persons tendering their dollars to be cut. 
 
 " I have thought fit, therefore, to order and proclaim, and I do hereby with 
 the advice and consent of His Majesty's Council, order and proclaim that it shall 
 be lawful for Mr. John O'Brien, who is hereby appointed, to cut such dollars. 
 
 "Given under my hand and seal, at the Government House, this iQth day 
 of June, 181 1. By Hi Excellency ' s command, 
 
 "W. WHITMORE, Secretary." 
 
 Another interesting treatment of the dollar in this form is 
 from New South Wales. There the centre of the dollar to 
 about the size of a farthing was pierced. Round the hole left 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 29 
 
 was stamped on the obverse " five shillings," the edge being 
 milled. On the reverse was " New South Wales " and the 
 date of the year in which it was pierced. The piece thus 
 punched out was milled on the edge ; on one side it had a 
 crown in the centre, and round the outer edge " New South 
 Wales " and the date of stamping, on the other side, " fifteen 
 pence " in two lines. 
 
 These coins are now very rare. 
 
 By this ingenious proceeding two coins were produced 
 out of one, and the joint value was raised to 6s. 3^., which 
 effectually preserved them from the melting-pot. Another 
 method adopted at Guadeloupe, Tortola and other places, 
 was to cut the dollars into halves or quarters, so that each 
 
 piece had a serrated edge, and each cutting was counter- 
 marked by the issuing country. The circulation of the is. ^d., 
 
30 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 or quarter dollar, was marred on the discovery that in many cases 
 the original dollar had ingeniously been cut intoyW quarters. 
 
 That many persons maintained a fixed dislike to and 
 distrust in a revival of private tokens will be seen from the 
 copy of a hand-bill circulated in Newcastle about this time. 
 
 PUBLIC NOTICE. 
 TOKENS. 
 
 " Assays have been taken at the Assay Hall, of different tokens issued in 
 this town and neighbourhood, as also of several in the south : and in general 
 they have been found of very inferior quality, the intrinsic value of the 
 twelve penny tokens on an average does not exceed eightpence halfpenny, 
 and some not more than eightpence." 
 
 To the above advertisement (which appeared in the Tyne Mercury of 
 Tuesday last) Mr. Robertson seems to impute the heavy run which took place 
 upon him this day : this may have had some weight, but it is probable the 
 following is the real cause : 
 
 House of Commons, Monday, April 27, 1812. Mr. Huskisson rose to ask 
 the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it was his intention 
 to bring forward any measure for the purpose of checking the circulation of 
 local tokens? (Hear, hear.) If it was not, he himself proposed to submit 
 some proposition in order to remedy the growing grievance. Mr. Perceval 
 answered that it was his intention shortly to bring forward a measure of this 
 description. 
 
 Tuesday, April 28. The Chancellor of the Exchequer* gave notice, that 
 he would to-morrow move for leave to bring in a Bill to regulate, with a view 
 to REPRESS, the circulation of small tokens. 
 
 For the truth of what is asserted in the advertisement, the assay can be 
 produced on application to the printers. 
 
 The result of this agitation was the suppression of all 
 tokens except those issued by the Banks of England and 
 Ireland. A statute was passed on July 29, 1812, prohibiting 
 the further issue of private tokens, making the tender of such 
 coins illegal after March 25, 1813, and enforcing a penalty of 
 not less than five or more than twenty pounds for making or 
 issuing such tokens. The Act is before me (Geo. III. Cap. 
 
 * A fortnight after Mr. Perceval was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons 
 by John Bellingham, a bankrupt Liverpool broker. He was a man of disordered brain who 
 had a grievance against the Government, originating in the refusal of the English ambassador 
 at St. Petersburg to interfere with the regular process of Russian law under which he had 
 been arrested. Bellingham was tried at the Old Bailey on May 15. The plea of insanity 
 made for him was not admitted, and he was hanged, May 18. 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 31 
 
 CLVII.) and is headed " An Act to prevent the issuing and 
 circulating of pieces of gold and silver, or other metal, usually 
 called tokens, except such as are issued by the Banks of 
 England and Ireland respectively." It contains the usual 
 number of 'wordy clauses. One, however, is worthy of note : 
 " How penalties shall be levied and applied." " One moiety of 
 the forfeiture to the informer and the other moiety to the poor 
 of the parish or place where the offence shall be committed." 
 
 Although the life of these tokens from birth to burial was 
 only some two years, an enormous number were put into circu- 
 lation. Great alarm as to the inconvenience that would 
 arise from their withdrawal was manifested. The Morning 
 Chronicle, of September 19, 1812, contains an account of a 
 meeting at Reading where " more than one hundred of the 
 inhabitants and tradesmen of Reading return thanks to 
 J. B. Monk, Esq., for the convenience afforded to them by the 
 issue of his silver tokens, and expressed their surprise that 
 an Act should have been passed prohibiting the circulation 
 of gold and silver tokens after March 25 next, without 
 any provision for the future supply of silver, either from 
 the Mint or from the Bank of England." Subsequently 
 it became necessary to extend the time for the withdrawal of 
 these tokens to July 5, but before the time arrived their lives 
 were again extended to " six weeks after the commencement 
 of the next session of Parliament." The statute also said 
 most clearly that the issuers of all such tokens were liable for 
 their redemption upon demand. 
 
 About this time the Bank authorities were further 
 harassed in their currency by the circulation of notes, the 
 general appearance of which resembled those issued by the 
 Bank of England, but instead of being for one or two pounds 
 they were for the same number of pence. They were said to 
 be issued at the Fleet Prison. An interesting account of them 
 will be found in The Fleet, its Rivers and Prison, by John 
 Ashton. One of these notes was recently acquired by 
 Mr. Welch, of the Guildhall library. 
 
 This issue led to the passing of an Act in August, 1812, 
 making it criminal to imitate the notes of the Bank of 
 
32 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 England, especially in producing "any word, number, figure, 
 or character in white upon a black, sable, or dark ground." 
 
 But to return to the Bank of England tokens. The St. 
 James s Chronicle of September 26-28, 1811, states that the 
 Bank are going to issue $s. and is. 6d. tokens of a new type. 
 If this were really carried out, they must have been issued 
 in very small quantities, as no trace of such a coin can be 
 found. All the tokens to be met with of 1811 are of the 
 same type as those previously illustrated. The early coins 
 dated 1812 are also the same. 
 
 On September 18, 1812, a new issue was made bearing a 
 different obverse, the King's head being broader and bolder, 
 and it is also laureated. 
 
 - 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 33 
 
 This issue was very soon counterfeited. William Booth, 
 a notorious forger at Perry Bar, Staffordshire, issued a penny 
 token of his own as a blind for having a coining machine in 
 his house. The collar in which his coin was struck was 
 exactly the same size as these Bank tokens, which, it is 
 believed, he freely counterfeited. He forged the notes of the 
 Bank of England, and was eventually detected, tried, found 
 guilty, and executed at Stafford. 
 
 Other ingenious imitators of these tokens were the French 
 prisoners of war, who most unfortunately filled our English 
 and Scotch prisons during the early part of this century. 
 An able article upon " French Prisoners of War in Scotland, 
 etc.," by J. Macbeth Forbes, of the Bank of Scotland, 
 appeared in the Bankers Magazine for March, 1899. A 
 most interesting account of their forgeries in general is given, 
 and the names of several are recorded who were executed for 
 forging notes of the Bank of England. Capt. Vernon Harris, 
 in Dartmoor Prison, Past and Present, says, that " at 
 Dartmoor, an English depot, it was even said that the 
 prisoners there excelled in producing good imitations of 
 the coins in use, notably the eighteenpenny and three- 
 shilling pieces then current." Nor was this to be wondered 
 at when we read, " What was truly revolting to every sense 
 of propriety was the spectacle of vast groups of prisoners 
 such as three thousand at Penicuik, seven thousand at Perth, 
 ten thousand at Norman Cross, thousands at Dartmoor, and 
 so on confined like wild beasts for years within palisaded 
 enclosures, and in a state of that utter idleness which led, as 
 we have seen, to criminal acts forging bank-notes as it were 
 to relieve the tedium of their dismal incarceration." It is 
 evident that in 1812 the Bank authorities contemplated the 
 issue of a new denomination in token money, namely, a coin 
 for ninepence. From some unexplained reason it was never 
 issued to the public. 
 
 The illustration is from a proof in bronze. Proofs were 
 also made in silver. 
 
34 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Fresh issues of the tokens for 3^. and is 6d. were struck 
 for 1813, 1814, 1815, and 1816, but the design of 1812 was 
 retained. Presumably very few $s. dollars were issued in 
 1816, as coins of this date are rarely met with. The same 
 remarks apply to the is. 6d. token. 
 
 By November, 1815, the metallic value of the dollar had 
 fallen to 4^. $d., and as the Bank were still accepting and 
 issuing at 5^. 6d., a great number of Spanish coins were 
 cleverly altered to resemble the Bank dollar. On April 25, 
 1816, the Bank repeated their old notice of redeeming the 
 dollar at $s. 6d., but not less than eight dollars must be in 
 one parcel. 
 
 During the period in which the dollar coinage had been in 
 vogue, viz., from its first inception in 1797 until 1816, the 
 minted silver coinage of the realm had got into a shocking con- 
 dition, very deficient in quantity and very defective in quality. 
 
 The restriction of Bank payment had produced an unreal 
 state of things. Guineas had appreciated in value, and 
 notes had depreciated. Various Acts had been passed, 
 making it illegal to sell or export gold coin for more than its 
 face value ; notes were not to be dealt in at less than theirs. 
 Many complications arose. Guineas, however slightly light, 
 might be cut and sold as bullion, but heavy coins might not. 
 The old Act that was put in force to restrain the trading in 
 guineas did not apply to Ireland, so there the trade went on 
 merrily. 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 35 
 
 In silver, only the most wretchedly thin and worn coins 
 escaped the melting pot, and many foreign pieces were in circu- 
 lation often so thin and effaced that it was almost impossible 
 to identify them. Business could not stand still, and so had 
 to be transacted with the miserable coins available. So scarce 
 was change, that people often took IQS. or 15^. in halfpence 
 to enable them to change a pound note, these, " for the 
 most part, mere raps, not worth a tenth part of their 
 nominal value." Bankers were at great inconvenience to 
 pay the odd money on cheques, so much so that a 
 circular appeared in the London papers from them asking 
 their customers to draw for whole pounds only. Many public 
 officials and shopkeepers gave written vouchers for parts of 
 pounds to be settled in the next account. In many of the 
 public offices change was not only refused, but certain clerks 
 in the offices became dealers in it, and would not part under 
 a substantial commission. It was stated in a public paper 
 that one man had a promissory note dishonoured because he 
 could not pay the odd money named on the bill. 
 
 It was under such conditions as these that, on May 21, 
 1816, a report from the committee appointed to enquire into 
 the state of the coin of the kingdom was received, in which 
 they strongly advocated a new coinage of silver. Various 
 suggestions were made, one of which was that a little should 
 be " taken out of each coin," namely, that sixty-six shillings 
 should be taken out of a pound weight of troy, instead of 
 sixty-two as hitherto. They further advocated that gold 
 should be the standard, and payments in silver restricted to 
 2, the legal silver tender at that time being ^25. That the 
 provinces had been agitating for this issue since 1807 mav be 
 
 gathered from the following : 
 
 Newcastle, July 2, 1807. 
 To the Mayor, 
 
 We, the undersigned, request your Worship to call a meeting of the 
 tradesmen of this town for the purpose of taking into consideration the 
 propriety of applying to the Government for a new silver coinage. 
 
 Eventually it was settled that two million pounds for 
 England and five hundred thousand for Ireland should be 
 
36 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 coined before any was issued to the public. The whole 
 question of this issue is deeply interesting, but is too long t< 
 be given here. 
 
 An idea soon got afloat that when the new silver was 
 issued the old would only be taken in exchange by weight, 
 and not at face value. A false alarm once started spreads 
 like wildfire, and, like fire, is most difficult to extinguish. 
 
 In London the alarm became so great that it almost 
 amounted to a panic. The Lord Mayor was requested to 
 take up the matter, and the following notice was issued : 
 
 The Bank of England does not refuse any shillings or sixpences on 
 account of their being plain, provided they are English. 
 
 This notice no sooner appeared than an anxious crowd 
 besieged the Bank, and were only too thankful to be rid of 
 their wretched thin silver in exchange for notes and dollars. 
 
 A further public notice was posted at the Bank and 
 Mansion House : 
 
 All shillings and sixpences of the coin of the realm, whether plain or not, 
 will continue to be exchanged at the Bank as heretofore till the issue of the 
 new silver coinage, which will not take place before the month of February 
 next. 
 
 N.B. Those that refuse to take the current coin of the realm will be 
 prosecuted. 
 
 In Westminster business was almost at a stand. People 
 applied to the magistrates for their advice. Pawnbrokers 
 stated that some people were starving because the brokers 
 had no money to give them, and others could not redeem 
 their small pledges for the want of coin. The last holder of 
 the thin money was under the fixed impression that he would 
 be saddled with the loss. Post offices and police offices were 
 besieged for advice. A special message was sent to the 
 Bank, and not until handbills were circulated, renewing their 
 promise, was the excitement allayed and business resumed. 
 
 The shopkeepers of Dumfries were in great doubt and 
 perplexity. They called a meeting of the inhabitants, and 
 sent a round letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who, 
 in a courteous reply, dated June 15, 1816, soothed their fears 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 37 
 
 by assuring them that all genuine coin, however thin, would 
 be taken at face value in exchange for the new issue. In 
 spite of all these assurances the poorer classes would not 
 believe, many selling their thin sixpences to the Jews 
 for ^d. 
 
 Although matters quieted down in the metropolis the 
 country places were not so easily satisfied. Disturbances 
 took place in many parts. The riot that occurred at 
 Sunderland may give some idea of the state of the times. 
 
 " Many of the tradesmen of Sunderland injudiciously 
 refused taking the shillings and sixpences that were plain 
 and without remains of the impression. In consequence of 
 this a large concourse of poor inhabitants met after dark, and 
 commenced an attack upon the shops of Messrs. Caleb 
 Wilson, Nattrass, Middlebrook, Walton, Andrew Hall, etc., 
 all grocers and flour dealers ; the windows of both shops and 
 houses were nearly demolished, and the shop of Middlebrook 
 completely gutted by the mob, who were seen running away 
 with hams, groceries, etc. After the shop had been forced 
 open, the 33rd Regiment was called out, and on the Riot Act 
 being read about midnight, they prepared to act hostilely, 
 when the mob in a great degree dispersed, but not before 
 several soldiers received bruises from bricks, etc. The house 
 of Mr. Barnes, surgeon, being at this time rebuilding, the 
 mob took thence many hundred bricks for their destructive 
 purposes. The town continued in great alarm and commotion 
 for some time on this event." 
 
 A few years before, the scarcity of change had led to a 
 riot at Stamford, " attended with acts of violence and 
 killing." 
 
 Early in 1817 the new silver was ready. From the 
 following extract it appears to have been sent into the 
 provinces by the artillery : 
 
 Twenty-three artillery train waggons loaded with new silver coin left 
 London for the North. Three, upon arriving, deposited their lading, 
 amounting to some ^24,000, with the bankers at York ; each waggon was 
 drawn by six horses with their riders, and accompanied by a military escort. 
 
38 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 On January 30 eighteen artillery waggons passed through Newcastle on 
 their way to Scotland ; they were under a full military escort. They were 
 laden with silver, which was recorded as twenty-four tons. 
 
 At length the country was in readiness, and on February 
 13, 1817, all bankers, and numerous special exchange offices, 
 were prepared to issue the new coin "in exchange for the 
 old standard coin of the realm, however defaced or reduced 
 in weight by use." 
 
 The last issue of shillings and sixpences was in 1787, so 
 that thirty years had passed before the new issue of silver 
 reached the hands of the public. 
 
 SHILLING AND SIXPENCE OF 1787. 
 
 SHILLING AND SIXPENCE OF NEW ISSUE. 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 39 
 
 Great haste was manifested to draw in the poor thin 
 coins that had done duty for so long. Only fourteen days 
 were allowed before they were to become an illegal tender. 
 The summary manner in which they were to be treated will 
 be seen from the following notice : 
 
 NEW SILVER COINS. 
 
 Royal Mint, February 20, 1817. 
 
 The public are particularly requested to take notice that the period fixed 
 by proclamation for exchanging the old for the new silver coin will terminate 
 on the 27th of this instant February, and that after that time, by 56th Geo. III., 
 cap. 68, sec. 7, all persons to whom any of the old coin formerly current 
 shall be tendered in payment are authorised and requested to cut, break or 
 deface the same, etc., etc., etc. 
 
 It is, therefore, indispensably necessary to avoid loss that all persons 
 should bring in their coin to be exchanged on or before the 27th of February 
 
 instant. 
 
 W. W. Pole, 
 
 Master and Worker of His Majesty's Mint. 
 
 In spite of all the provision made for the issue of new 
 silver, there is no doubt that country bankers were only able 
 to give it out with a very sparing hand. The following 
 letter, written at Bishop Auckland, February 14, 1817, by 
 Mr. Thos. H. Faber (his son became the celebrated Catholic 
 divine and hymn writer), agent of the Bishop of Durham, 
 to Messrs. Backhouse & Co., bankers, Durham, illustrates 
 the case : 
 
 I shall send to-morrow to be exchang'd nine or ten pounds in old silver, 
 which have been taken in shillings and sixpences of almost every poor family 
 in this town to-day for articles of food, which we deliver out at reduced prices ; 
 now I am informed that I can only receive in return twenty shillings of the 
 new coinage, the remaining sum being paid in a check upon you for notes ; if 
 this be the case I fear our town will soon be drain'd of silver ; under a peculiar 
 circumstance like this you perhaps may have it in your power to accommo- 
 date me with change to the amount which the bearer will carry in to you. 
 Though in my hands as treasurer the above sum may be said to be the 
 property of many. I feel greatly obliged by your attention to my request 
 in sending $ in change on Wednesday. 
 
 Subsequently the new issue must have been greatly 
 augmented, as on March 12, 1818, notices appeared in the 
 public press that on and after the i9th inst. the Bank of 
 
40 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 England would be ready to issue new coinage to each of the 
 London bankers to the amount of ,20,000 in exchange for 
 bank notes. By June there had been coined 
 
 Shillings ... 50,490,000 
 
 Sixpences... 30,436,560 
 
 The issue of the new silver naturally obviated the further 
 use of the dollar, which was now withdrawn from circulation 
 under the following Acts and official notices : 
 
 On April 25, 1816, the Bank gave six months' notice (in fulfilment of 
 the promise made March 18, 1811, see page 21) that they would receive 
 dollars at $s. 6d. each up to November i, not less than eight to be paid in at 
 one time. On September 26 they extend the time to February i, 1817. On 
 January 16 of that year they postpone the withdrawal to May i. The notice 
 is received on March 20, with the assurance that no further time will be 
 given. On May 10 a notice appeared, signed by Mr. Hase, chief cashier, 
 saying that dollars would be accepted at $s. it also informed the public that 
 they were not bound to accept them in payment. 
 
 The new silver coinage being now considered equal to 
 the requirements of the public, an Act was passed on 
 July n, 1817, which set forth that as the tokens issued by 
 the Bank of England were no longer needed, they were not 
 to be received or paid after March 25, 1818, "on penalty of 
 paying for every such dollar, etc., uttered, offered or tendered 
 in payment, any sum not exceeding five pounds nor less than 
 forty shillings." They would be accepted at the Bank until 
 March 25, 1820, or the holders were at liberty to sell them 
 for old silver. 
 
 In consequence of this Act notices appeared on July 
 17 and 22, stating that on and after August i dollars could 
 be exchanged at the Bank for gold, silver or notes. This 
 notice was repeated on December 3, and again on February 12, 
 1818, when it was sent to all postmasters, requesting them to 
 put it up in some public place in their respective towns. 
 
 On March 19 an Act was passed extending the legal 
 circulation of the dollar until July 5 of that year, adding that 
 after that date, until April, 1819, they might be used for the 
 
TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 41 
 
 payment of postage, rates, parochial or public, or u in pay- 
 ment to any banker, or any common carrier, or to any other 
 person, for the purpose of such dollars being transmitted to 
 the Bank of England." Any person so treating the dollar 
 was to be exempt from the penalties of the Act. 
 
 After this date they were only payable at the Bank of 
 England, where, as previously stated, they would be accepted 
 until March 25, 1820, after which time they would simply 
 carry their metallic value. For many succeeding years they 
 found their way to the Bank in the current silver or by 
 personal presentation. In the writer's early experience, as a 
 teller in the late fifties, they not infrequently appeared. Even 
 in the present day they are occasionally presented for 
 payment. 
 
 Some idea of the magnitude of the dollar issue may be 
 gained from a return by the Bank to the House of Commons. 
 It was stated that from 1804 to 1815 they had issued in 
 55., 5$. 6d., $s. and is. 6d., coins to the amount of 
 ,4,457,649. 45. 6d., and that the dollars and tokens then 
 redeemed had exceeded that amount by .105,859. 35-. 6d., 
 showing the large number of forged counter-marked dollars 
 that must have been sent in. 
 
 The difficulty in withdrawing the token money from 
 circulation must have been very great, though information on 
 the subject is difficult to obtain. I am informed that in 
 country places, where bankers and traders were issuing 
 tokens, shopkeepers and others kept a sorting box, into which 
 tokens received were placed under the name of the issuers in 
 that and the adjoining towns. Tokens naturally strayed from 
 one locality to another, and, as opportunity offered, these were 
 presented for payment to the original issuer. 
 
 Whether bankers received the miscellaneous assortment 
 from their customers in the ordinary course of business I 
 have no information. That the Bank tokens freely circulated 
 as far north as Darlington is shown from some extracts I give 
 
 4 
 
42 TOKEN MONEY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 in my History of Banking in the North of England, taken 
 from the books of Messrs. Backhouse & Co. The 
 
 Chester-le-Street agent writes : 
 
 8 Mo., 27, 1818. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I have sent with John ^23 in notes and ^3. I2S. in Bank tokens. Please 
 inform me if I may take tokens any longer. 
 
 From the same firm large consignments of tokens were 
 sent to John ADard, of London. On 4 Mo., i, 1819, he is 
 debited ^"218. is. for tokens, and 4 Mo., 9, of the same year 
 ^"406. i2s. ; and the Sunderland branch is credited, 4 Mo., 5, 
 by tokens, ^"400. i6s. 6d. Doubtless the old books of many 
 country bankers would reveal the same large consignments of 
 token money. 
 
 So ended an important phase in the currency of the 
 country. Only some eighty years have elapsed since it 
 ceased. Our fathers must have handled much of this token 
 money in their private or business life, yet now the 
 circumstance is almost forgotten, and the record of the events 
 has received scant attention by the historian. 
 
 Though most ready to 1 assist in my investigation, the 
 officials of the Bank of England have been unable to afford 
 any information beyond what has appeared in public print, 
 nor does the treasury of the "Old Lady" contain a single 
 specimen of her token coinage, some millions of which were 
 issued under her directions, and for twenty years formed the 
 principal silver circulation of the metropolis and probably of 
 the nation. 
 
 The notes and tokens herein illustrated are from the Author's collections, 
 with the exception of the last four coins on page 18, which are copied by 
 permission from Das Brasilianische Geldwesen, by Julius Meili. 
 
 This paper originally appeared in the BANKERS' MAGAZINE (March to 
 August, 1900). By the courtesy of the Proprietors and Editor, I am enabled 
 to produce it in the present form. 
 
 My information is derived from Ruding's Annals of the Coinage, Boyne's 
 Silver Tokens, Hawkins' Silver Coins, memoranda in the " Bell Collection " 
 (kindly lent by William Norman, Esq., Newcastle-upon-Tyne), the newspapers 
 of the period, and data gathered when preparing my History of Banking in 
 Northumberland, Durham and North Yorkshire. Messrs. Spink & Sons, 
 Piccadilly, have also afforded me every information in their power. 
 
APPROXIMATE VALUE OF BANK TOKENS. 
 
 For the guidance of any reader who may wish to form 
 a collection of BANK TOKENS, I subjoin a list giving their 
 approximate value : 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 d. 
 
 * 
 
 d. 
 
 COUNTER-MARKED DOLLAR 
 
 Page 10 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 to 6 
 
 6 
 
 PROOF DOLLAR, Bronze 
 
 55 12 
 
 ... 15 
 
 
 
 55 I 5 
 
 
 
 DORRIEN & MAGENS' SHILLING 
 
 55 13 
 
 ... 7 10 
 
 
 
 55 9 
 
 o 
 
 SPANISH DOLLAR, Octagon Mark 
 
 ,5 H 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 55 12 
 
 6 
 
 PROOF DOLLAR, Bronze 
 
 15 
 
 ... i 5 
 
 
 
 55 * 10 
 
 
 
 , Silver 
 
 55 ^5 
 
 ... 2 10 
 
 
 
 55 3 I0 
 
 o 
 
 BANK OF ENGLAND DOLLAR ... 
 
 55 l6 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 SPANISH HALF-DOLLAR 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Small Counter-Mark 
 
 18 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 I 5 
 
 o 
 
 SPANISH QUARTER-DOLLAR 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Small Counter-Mark ... 
 
 18 
 
 ... 2 10 
 
 
 
 55 2 15 
 
 o 
 
 SPANISH EIGHTH-OF-DOLLAR 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Small Counter-Mark ... 
 
 18 
 
 ... 3 o 
 
 
 
 55 3 5 
 
 o 
 
 SPANISH HALF-DOLLAR 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Octagon Mark 
 
 18 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 55 I 
 
 o 
 
 SPANISH QUARTER-DOLLAR 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Octagon Mark 
 
 18 
 
 ... 2 IO 
 
 
 
 5, 3 o 
 
 
 
 BANK TOKEN FOR 5/6, Proof, Bronze . 
 
 55 23 
 
 15 
 
 o 
 
 55 I 5 
 
 o 
 
 55 55 55 3H l8 H tO l8l5 . 
 
 5, 24 
 
 3 
 
 o 
 
 55 3 
 
 6 
 
 3/-, 1816 
 
 24 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 55 12 
 
 o 
 
 ,, ,, 1/6, 1811 to 1816 . 
 
 55 24 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 55 2 
 
 
 
 PIERCED DOLLAR, Trinidad 
 
 28 
 
 ... 2 5 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 o 
 
 , New South Wales ... 
 
 29 
 
 ... 6 10 
 
 
 
 8 10 
 
 
 
 PIERCED PIECE FOR FIFTEEN-PENCE ... 
 
 5, 29 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 55 I 5 
 
 o 
 
 SECTIONS OF DOLLARS ... 
 
 2Q 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 BANK TOKEN FOR NINEPENCE, Proof, 
 
 
 T^ 
 
 
 
 
 Bronze 
 
 . 
 
 . 7 IO 
 
 o 
 
 8 o 
 
 o 
 
 SHILLING, 1787 . 
 
 35 O\ 
 
 -28 
 
 / 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 55 2 
 
 6 
 
 SIXPENCE, 1787 .. 
 
 55 O 
 
 ^8 
 
 I 
 
 o 
 
 55 T 
 
 6 
 
 SHILLING, 1816 ... :.. 
 
 55 O 
 38 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 5, 2 
 
 
 
 SIXPENCE, 1816 
 
 5, 38 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
A HISTORY OF 
 
 SSanfes, ^Bankers, an6 ^Banking, 
 
 IN 
 
 IRortbumberlanb, 2>urbam, an& IRortb 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS 
 
 portraits, jfaostmites of Botes, 
 
 Signatures, ^Documents, &c. 
 
 flDaberls Phillips, jf.S.B. 
 
 Crown 4to, 400 pages, and extensively illustrated, 1 11s. 6d. 
 
 ABRIDGED PRESS OPINIONS. 
 
 "Times," November 2nd, 1894. FIFTEEN LINES. 
 
 " An important and .... a singularly interesting contribution to local 
 and commercial history." 
 
 " Bankers' Magazine," December, 1894. FIVE PAGES. 
 " Too much praise cannot be bestowed on the labours of the author of these 
 charming banking chronicles. Never before, we imagine, under the covers of one 
 book, has so much of varied interest to the banker been collected, collated, and 
 chronologically arranged." 
 
 " Investors' Review," December, 1894. ONE-AND-THREE-QUARTER PAGE. 
 
 " Take it as a whole, it is the most valuable monograph of the history of 
 banking published in this country that we have ever come across." 
 
 " Statist," November 17th, 1894. SEVENTEEN LINES. 
 " The work is not only instructive, but in parts highly entertaining." 
 
 " Pall Mall Gazette," December 27th, 1894. FIFTY LINES. 
 "It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that there is not one page which does 
 not contain something to interest, to teach, to amuse, or to surprise, and all is new." 
 
 "Westminster Gazette," December 24th, 1894. A COLUMN. 
 " To bankers, of course, the book presents an array of facts collected with care 
 which it will be very difficult to find elsewhere." 
 
 "Westminster Review," March, 1895. THREE-AND-A-HALF PAGES. 
 
 " This is a book which has been largely subscribed for by bankers and those 
 interested in banking, and it will be an ornament and acquisition to all bank parlours 
 and libraries." 
 
 "Athenaeum," March 23rd, 1895. ONE-AND-A-HALF COLUMN. 
 " The book abounds with common-sense remarks. It describes sundry points 
 in the annals of banking in this country that we have not seen mentioned elsewhere." 
 
 OLon&on: 
 
 EFFINGHAM WILSON, ROYAL EXCHANGE. 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN 
 THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY 
 WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH 
 DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 30 
 MAR 9 1948 
 
 16Nov'63lM 
 REC'D LD 
 
 Noni'63-tt 
 
 SENT ON ILL 
 
 OCT 1 1994 
 
 U. C. BERKELEY 
 
 LD 21-50m-8.'32 
 
o token money of 
 "bank of England . . . 
 
 .P4 
 
 YC 97924 
 
 I 04G30