1/2 Penny British Copper Company - Brutus

The British Copper Company was incorporated in 1809 specifically to exploit Cornish copper deposits and, following the model of Boulton's Soho Mint, issued its own trade tokens partly to advertise its commercial ambitions. The "Brutus" designation in Withers refers to the die pairing, not a separate issue — collectors working this series must navigate an unusually tangled web of obverse and reverse combinations documented across the Withers reference.

Cornwall's private token trade was already mature by 1809, flooding local commerce in the wake of chronic Royal Mint underproduction of regal copper.