5 Shillings Lanarkshire - New Lanark

New Lanark's truck tokens occupy an unusual place in Scottish numismatic history. Robert Owen had taken control of the mills by 1800 and was already dismantling the worst abuses of the truck system — yet these 1811 issues were nonetheless struck to facilitate wage payments within a relatively controlled company economy. Owen's New Lanark was simultaneously a social experiment and a commercial enterprise, and the coinage reflects that tension.

The 1811 date places this squarely within the period addressed by the Truck Act debates that would eventually culminate in legislation restricting exactly this kind of company-issued scrip.