1 Farthing - Arnott & Co. Drapers - Cork

Arnott & Co. was founded in Cork in 1830 and grew into one of the most prominent department stores in Ireland, eventually expanding to Dublin's Henry Street where it became a fixture of the city's retail trade. This token belongs to a broader tradition of Irish merchant farthings issued during the mid-nineteenth century, when small-denomination copper coinage was chronically scarce in everyday commerce — a persistent problem in Ireland that predated the Famine and outlasted it. Private traders filled the gap with their own copper pieces, accepted by local customers and occasionally by neighbouring shopkeepers.

The Batty and Withers references both place this piece firmly within the documented Cork merchant token series.