1 Farthing Middlesex - George and Carolina

This piece belongs to the explosion of provincial copper tokens issued in the 1790s, when a chronic shortage of Royal Mint regal coinage left British commerce functionally unable to make small change. Merchants, industrialists, and tradesmen filled the void themselves — legally, since no statute explicitly prohibited private token issue until 1817. The Middlesex series was among the most prolific, with hundreds of distinct types struck largely by Birminghammanufacturers like Skidmore and the Soho Mint.

Dalton & Hamer number 1144 places this squarely within a densely catalogued run, meaning die marriages and edge varieties exist across the type.