1/2 Penny Hampshire - Emsworth / J. Stride

Emsworth, a small fishing and shipbuilding port on the Hampshire coast, produced several merchant token issues during the 1790s when the chronic shortage of regal copper coinage left tradespeople with little choice but to commission their own. J. Stride's halfpenny belongs to this wave of provincial necessity coinage that flooded England between roughly 1787 and 1797. The Boulton and Watt steam-press at Soho Mint had not yet monopolized copper production, and private token issuers filled the gap openly.

Atkins 9a distinguishes a specific die pairing within the Stride series — worth noting when cross-referencing against the broader DH#13 attribution.