Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Penny Hampshire - Emsworth / Earl Howe
| Issuer | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 1794 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Copper |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Left-facing draped bust of Admiral Earl Howe in naval uniform and cocked hat, occupying the central field. The portrait is rendered in moderately high relief with fine engraved detail on the coat and cravat. A circular legend surrounds the effigy close to the rim, commemorating the naval victory known as the Glorious First of June. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Lettered (incuse) |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Emsworth's 1794 halfpenny token was issued during the great provincial copper famine that paralyzed small commerce across Britain after the Royal Mint effectively abandoned regal copper coinage for decades. Richard Howe, the admiral honored here, had just months earlier commanded the Channel Fleet to victory over the French at the Glorious First of June — the first major naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars. The timing was deliberate; local merchants understood that a fresh celebrity on a token moved copper into circulation faster than an anonymous issue.
Dalton & Hamer's reference 18 places this among the more precisely documented Hampshire pieces.