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1/2 Penny Somerset - Bath / John Howard
| Issuer | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 1794 |
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| Reference(s) | DH#36, Batty#3707 |
| Obverse description | Draped bust of the prison reformer John Howard facing left, occupying the majority of the field, with curled hair and period costume including a coat with buttons visible. The peripheral legend reads JOHN HOWARD F.R.S. at the top and HALFPENNY at the bottom, separated by dot stops, all within a toothed border. The portrait is rendered in high relief in the neoclassical style characteristic of late 18th-century English token engraving. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
John Howard, the prison reformer whose death in 1790 from camp fever contracted while inspecting a Russian military hospital near Kherson, was commemorated extensively in the British conder token series of the 1790s. Bath issued this halfpenny under Somerset's token output at a moment when the Royal Mint's chronic copper shortage had left provincial trade almost entirely dependent on private token issues. Howard had visited Bath and was well known in Somerset reform circles.
Dalton & Hamer 36 places this among the more frequently encountered Bath pieces, though Batty's separate cataloguing reflects genuine die distinctions within the Howard commemorative type.