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1 Farthing - Ferrar and Co. Silk Mercers, Haberdashers, Belfast
| Issuer | Ferrar & Company, Belfast |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | The entire design is purely typographic, with no central motif. The issuer's name FERRAR & COMPY arcs along the upper periphery in a curved legend, while the trade descriptions SILK MERCERS and HABERDASHERS are arranged in two straight horizontal lines across the central field, with the abbreviation & C. appearing in the lower field. The whole is enclosed within a continuous beaded border running inside the rim. |
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| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | FERRAR & COMPy SILK MERCERS HABERDASHERS & c |
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| Additional information |
Ferrar & Company operated as silk mercers and haberdashers in Belfast during the late eighteenth century, a period when small-denomination copper and brass tokens flooded Irish commercial life to compensate for a chronic shortage of regal coinage. The British authorities had largely neglected to supply adequate small change to Ireland, and merchants — particularly in Ulster's growing linen and textile trade — took the matter into their own hands. Private token issues like this one functioned as de facto currency within a merchant's regular customer base.
The Withers and Batty references both catalog this piece within the broader Irish trade token series of the 1790s.