1/2 Penny Middlesex - National Series / Prince of Wales

The "National Series" conders were produced by a loose network of private token issuers capitalizing on a near-total collapse of official British small change in the late 1780s — the Royal Mint had struck almost no copper coinage since 1775, leaving wages below a shilling essentially unpayable in legitimate coin. Middlesex became the most prolific county in this private minting boom, with dozens of distinct types appearing in just a few years. The Prince of Wales association here is commercial flattery, not royal endorsement; token issuers routinely attached popular figures to their dies to drive collector demand from the start.