1 Penny Worcestershire - Nail and Trace Manufactory / J. Forrest

Issued under the Worcestershire Nail and Trace Manufactory operated by J. Forrest & Co., this token belongs to the dense wave of provincial copper coinage that flooded Britain after the Royal Mint's near-total withdrawal from small denomination production in the late eighteenth century. Nail and trace manufacturers were significant industrial employers in the West Midlands, and issuing tradeable copper tokens served the dual purpose of paying workers and keeping local commerce moving when regal copper was simply absent from circulation.

Davis 9 is among the documented varieties for this issuer. The weight — well above many contemporary pennies — reflects a deliberate effort to resist accusations of fraud, a charge that plagued lighter-struck issuers during parliamentary debates over suppressing the provincial token trade, which culminated in the Act of 1817.