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1/2 Penny Warwickshire – Wilkinson / Forge
| Issuer | John Wilkinson |
|---|---|
| Year | 1787 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 2.6 mm |
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| Obverse description | Right-facing draped bust of John Wilkinson, the celebrated ironmaster, rendered in a classical portrait style within a plain inner border. The hair is dressed in the fashion of the period, swept back and queue-styled. The circular legend around the periphery reads IOHN WILKINSON IRON MASTER, with the lettering evenly spaced against the field. The portrait is bold in relief and occupies the majority of the coin's face, consistent with the medallic tradition of the Conder token series. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 1787 |
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| Additional information |
John Wilkinson issued these tokens largely to pay his own ironworkers, who labored at his forges in the Black Country at a time when the Royal Mint was producing almost no regal copper coinage. The small change famine of the 1780s was acute enough that wages frequently couldn't be paid in coin at all. Wilkinson's solution was self-interested but practical — his tokens circulated widely beyond his own workforce and were eventually imitated by counterfeiters, a backhanded acknowledgment of how thoroughly they had filled a genuine monetary vacuum.