Peter Kempson of Birmingham was one of the most prolific producers of provincial trade tokens during the 1790s copper shortage, when a near-total absence of regal small change forced merchants and manufacturers across Britain to strike their own. His Coventry series documented local civic architecture and landmarks with unusual consistency, making the set a deliberate souvenir proposition as much as a functional currency substitute. The Mints of Matthew Boulton had not yet flooded the market with the 1797 regal coppers when Kempson's pieces entered circulation.
DH#277 falls within a well-catalogued Dalton-Hamer series with known die pairings.
Peter Kempson of Birmingham was one of the most prolific producers of provincial trade tokens during the 1790s copper shortage, when a near-total absence of regal small change forced merchants and manufacturers across Britain to strike their own. His Coventry series documented local civic architecture and landmarks with unusual consistency, making the set a deliberate souvenir proposition as much as a functional currency substitute. The Mints of Matthew Boulton had not yet flooded the market with the 1797 regal coppers when Kempson's pieces entered circulation.
DH#277 falls within a well-catalogued Dalton-Hamer series with known die pairings.