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1 Farthing South Wales
| Issuer | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 1793 |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central device depicting a harp set upon a heraldic shield, flanked on either side by foliate sprays of laurel or olive branches rising from the base. The date 1793 appears prominently above the shield within the upper field. The circumferential legend PRO BONO PUBLICO (Latin: for the public good) is distributed around the periphery, separated by small ornamental stops. A milled border frames the entire composition. This example is also pierced through the lower field below the shield. |
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| Edge | Milled |
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| Additional information |
This piece belongs to the wave of privately issued copper tokens that flooded Britain in the 1780s and 1790s to compensate for a near-total collapse in official regal copper coinage. The Royal Mint had struck virtually no farthings or halfpennies for decades, leaving merchants, mine operators, and industrialists to commission their own tokens or watch commerce grind to a halt. The Parys Mine Company in Anglesey effectively launched the craze in 1787, and dozens of regional issuers followed.
The Conder token era ended abruptly when the Soho Mint's Boulton steam-press production made private issues redundant after 1797.