1 Farthing Middlesex - Social Series / Newton

This piece belongs to the explosion of privately issued token coinage that flooded Britain in the 1780s and 1790s, driven by a chronic shortage of regal small change — the Royal Mint had struck virtually no copper coinage since 1775. Merchants, industrialists, and political societies filled the void themselves, contracting with commercial diesinkers to produce millions of tokens. The "Social Series" name reflects a loose grouping by later collectors rather than any organized issuing body; these were struck speculatively for sale to collectors even at the time of issue, making pristine survivors far more common than genuine circulation wear would suggest.