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1/2 Penny Lancashire - Manchester / Frederick Duke of York
| Issuer | J. Rayner & Co., Manchester |
|---|---|
| Year | 1793 |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The armorial achievement of the Bricklayers' and Tilers' Company occupies the central field, comprising a shield charged with a chevron between three trowels, surmounted by a crest of a hand holding a hammer, and flanked by decorative foliate sprays. The date 1793 appears in the lower portion of the field. The circumferential legend reads HALFPENNY PAYABLE AT J RAYNER & CO MANCHESTER 1793, divided around the periphery within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Issued during the peak of the British trade token revival, this piece was struck by J. Rayner & Co. as a practical response to the chronic small-change shortage that had crippled retail commerce since the 1780s. The Royal Mint's near-total neglect of copper coinage for decades left merchants, manufacturers, and tavern-keepers across the industrial north effectively operating their own monetary systems.
Frederick, Duke of York — second son of George III — had become a popular public figure following his 1793 appointment to command British forces in the Low Countries campaign against Revolutionary France. The Dalton-Hamer reference 138 places this squarely among Manchester's more prolific token issuers of that year.