1/2 Penny Wiltshire - Salisbury / J. and T. Sharpes

The Sharpes token is one of dozens issued by Salisbury tradesmen during the 1790s copper famine, when the Royal Mint's chronic failure to produce adequate regal coinage left provincial commerce running almost entirely on privately struck pieces. Parliament had effectively tolerated the situation for over a decade by the time this token circulated, knowing prosecution of issuers would have seized up retail trade entirely. The Cronebane and Anglesey mining interests that drove the earlier token boom had already demonstrated the model was viable.

Soho Mint products dominate the better-struck Wiltshire pieces; whether the Sharpes commissioned through Boulton's operation or a lesser diesinker remains unresolved in the standard references.