The British Copper Company was chartered specifically to process ore from the Swansea smelting district, and its token issues of 1813–14 emerged from a familiar gap: the Royal Mint's chronic failure to supply adequate small change had left tradesmen and manufacturers across Britain issuing their own copper for decades. By the 1810s the token trade was well past its first wave, and Parliament would suppress private copper issues entirely within a few years under the Coinage Act of 1816.
Withers 610/2/5 identifies a specific die pairing within the series — worth noting, as multiple reverse dies were used across the Company's halfpenny issues and not all are equally scarce.
The British Copper Company was chartered specifically to process ore from the Swansea smelting district, and its token issues of 1813–14 emerged from a familiar gap: the Royal Mint's chronic failure to supply adequate small change had left tradesmen and manufacturers across Britain issuing their own copper for decades. By the 1810s the token trade was well past its first wave, and Parliament would suppress private copper issues entirely within a few years under the Coinage Act of 1816.
Withers 610/2/5 identifies a specific die pairing within the series — worth noting, as multiple reverse dies were used across the Company's halfpenny issues and not all are equally scarce.