Cambridge tradesmen's tokens flooded local circulation during the 1640s–1670s because the Crown had effectively abandoned responsibility for small-change coinage — official farthings and halfpennies were insufficient in quantity and widely distrusted after the debased issues of earlier decades. Merchants, innkeepers, and tradespeople across England took matters into their own hands, issuing private copper tokens redeemable at their own premises. Parliament formally suppressed the practice in 1672 when Charles II finally introduced a regal copper coinage.
The Brickwell-Waters reference number 63 places this piece firmly within the documented Cambridge series.
Cambridge tradesmen's tokens flooded local circulation during the 1640s–1670s because the Crown had effectively abandoned responsibility for small-change coinage — official farthings and halfpennies were insufficient in quantity and widely distrusted after the debased issues of earlier decades. Merchants, innkeepers, and tradespeople across England took matters into their own hands, issuing private copper tokens redeemable at their own premises. Parliament formally suppressed the practice in 1672 when Charles II finally introduced a regal copper coinage.
The Brickwell-Waters reference number 63 places this piece firmly within the documented Cambridge series.