Farthing - Kent Sturry / T. Johnson

Sturry is a small village in Kent, and Johnson's farthing token is one of hundreds of copper tradesmen's pieces struck in England during the 1650s to fill a vacuum left by the Crown's longstanding refusal to mint low-denomination coinage. Parliament never resolved the small change problem, so shopkeepers, innkeepers, and merchants across the country took matters into their own hands. By 1672, when Charles II finally issued a royal copper farthing, private tokens like this one were formally suppressed.