1/2 Penny Warwickshire - Wilkinson / Harp

John Wilkinson issued his own copper tokens because he needed small change to pay his ironworkers — the Royal Mint's chronic underproduction of regal copper throughout the 1780s had left industrial employers across the Midlands unable to make payroll in small denominations. Wilkinson's tokens circulated far beyond his own workforce and were accepted across Shropshire, Staffordshire, and into Wales, effectively functioning as a regional currency.

The DH#467 designation places this within James Conder's catalogued series of 18th-century provincial tokens, the broader collecting category that bears his name. Atkins #308 cross-reference confirms the Harp reverse variety specifically.