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1/2 Penny Warwickshire - Birmingham / Clarke's
| Issuer | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 1795 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 10.5 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | BIRMINGHAM HALFPENNY JUSTA PRÆ MIA |
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| Mintage | 1795 - - 36 |
| Additional information |
Clarke's halfpenny token was issued during the acute small-change shortage of the 1790s, when the Royal Mint had effectively abandoned copper coinage production for decades. Provincial traders across the Midlands filled the vacuum themselves, commissioning private tokens from commercial die-sinkers — Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint in Birmingham being the dominant supplier. The Conder token phenomenon it spawned became one of the more peculiar episodes in English monetary history, with merchants doubling as de facto monetary authorities.
Parliament suppressed the trade token industry by 1797, the same year Boulton secured the official copper coinage contract.