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1/2 Penny Louis the Sixteenth - Music Charms
| Issuer | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 1760-1797 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | Atkins#410 |
| Obverse description | Draped bust of Louis XVI facing right, with flowing hair dressed in the French royal manner, occupying the majority of the field. The effigy is rendered in moderate relief in the style typical of late 18th-century evasion tokens. The peripheral legend reads LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH in Roman capital letters, distributed around the upper arc of the coin. |
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| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH |
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| Additional information |
This is an 18th-century British copper token rather than a regal issue — struck during the chronic small-change shortage that plagued Britain from roughly the 1760s through the 1790s, when the Royal Mint essentially abandoned copper coinage production. Merchants, industrialists, and tradesmen filled the void themselves, commissioning private tokens in enormous variety. The "Music Charms" attribution and the Louis XVI reference place this piece within the broader category of political and satirical tokens that circulated freely alongside more commercial issues during that period.