Farthing - Kent Maidstone / J. Ruse

Maidstone tradesmen's tokens flooded Kent during the 1648–1672 period precisely because the Crown had utterly failed to supply small change in sufficient quantity — Royal farthings under Charles I had been widely counterfeited, and Parliament showed no urgency in replacing them. J. Ruse issued this piece as a private commercial necessity, redeemable at his premises and trusted within a local economy that had no better option. Withers 385 is among hundreds of catalogued Maidstone pieces, reflecting just how active the town's mercantile community was relative to its size.