A Ramble 'Round Old Birmingham.

I did say interesting

publius would you site some references other than Dalton? I am interested in opinions on this topic

I wouldn't mind coming up with other references, but it might take me a few days. I've read a great deal on the topic of coin & currency, so it takes me some time to go back & find particular points!

The other problem is that the matter at hand is mostly dealt with in various tracts & pamphlets which were then reprinted in small editions, which find their way into University libraries, not into mine. Google Books & the Internet Archive, among others, are making this a bit easier, but it's still not the simplest thing in the world. So, for example, I have yet to be able to lay my hands on a paper copy of Ruding's Annals of the Coinage.

There are, by the way, several places in the latter work which describe the problems even with token-coinages which were authorized by the Crown, & whose issuers were supposed to maintain offices in every major town where they would redeem their issues. Apparently the 'patentees' were in the habit of claiming that pieces brought in for redemption were counterfeit, or simply refusing to do as they had contracted. The "Drapier's Letters", written by Dean Swift, give another excellent light on this problem, for all that Ruding is inclined to make light of the specific matter (which was complicated by the fact that Wood had no authority other than an order passed under the Great Seal of England, which had no statutory force in Ireland at that time, & his project had been condemned by the Irish Parliament). Ruding's entries from about 1650 onwards contain frequent references to the small-change situation, which was made immeasurably worse by the extraordinarily poor quality of the regal coppers, which functioned as an inducement to counterfeiting. It was even alleged (see under 1771) that the counterfeiters had destroyed what genuine coppers were issued, to obtain a wider field for their own circulation. This species of abuse went so far as to cause a delegation of merchants to petition (see under 1753) for a stop to the copper coinage!

It was, indeed, the Birmingham merchants (that city being originally the centre of the counterfeiting business) who were in the forefront of issuing 'legitimate' trade tokens, to provide some semblance of a sound circulating medium, but they themselves were in agreement that the true remedy was a good-quality regal minor coinage. Ruding cites various sources, including petitions of the time which may perhaps be available through the Public Records Office in Great Britain. Unfortunately, they are mostly in the form of "Letter to the Members of Parliament on the Present State of the Coinage, London, 8vo, 1771". Finding the originals from such as that may be a problem. The mention of these tokens is particularly to be noticed under the year 1792, & the copy of the 1819 edition whcih I got from the Inernet Archive has pasted on the next page (63 of volume IV) a description of the Anglesea Company tokens, cut out of some other publication (a newspaper?), with a manuscript marginal note "1787".

One really wonders about the "illegal combinations & confederacies" mentioned under 1808 as having been "entered into by evil-disposed persons to prevent the circulation of the legal current Copper Money of the Realm, coined at his Majesty's Mint, which, by such confederates, were called old Halfpence. As these confederacies tended to the grievous oppression of his Majesty's industrious subjects, & to the disturbance of the publick peace, a Caution was issued by the Lord Mayor to all persons not to refuse in payment such legal Copper Monies, under any pretence whatsoever, as they would thereby be deemed parties to such illegal combinations & confederacies" â€" considering the aforementioned widespread counterfeiting, why a proclamation was not issued to make the old coppers uncurrent is hard to see.

1811, August. "As the Bank Tokens which were issued did not afford a sufficient supply, the want of Silver for change began to be severely felt in many parts of the Kingdom, & occasioned the circulation of private tokens, to supply the places of Sixpences & Shillings, as at Bristol, Southampton, &c, &c, &c."

1812, January. "That which ought to have been foreseen, as the probable consequence of permitting light private Tokens to circulate with those issued from the Bank, now began to force itself into notice. The heavier Tokens were melted down, & stamped into those of light weight." Reference St. James' Chronicle, Jan 9-11, 1812.

Idem, July 29. "The melting down the Tokens issued bythe Banks of England & Ireland, in order to form private Tokens of less intrinsick value either in weight or fineness, made it necessary to stop entirely the circulation of those which were not current under the authority of Government. A Statute was, therefore, passed upon the 29th of July, to forbid, from & after the passing of the Act, the further making & issuing of any Tokens of Gold or Silver, or of mixed metals in part of Gold or Silver, under the penalty of forfeiting for every such Token so made or issued, any sum not less than five Pounds, or more than twenty, at the discretion of the Justice of Justices of the Peace who should hear & determine the offence.
And it was further enacted that after the 25th day of March 1813, no Tokens whatsoever, excepting those issued & circulated by the Governor & Company of the Banks of England & Ireland respectively, should be current under the penalty above mentioned. [FOOTNOTE - Stat 52 G III c 157. The Copper Tokens were not mentioned in this Act, & consequently their circulation was not forbidden.]
This Clause, which fixed the time beyond which the private Tokens were not to be circulated, seems to have created a general alarm of inconvenience from a want of Silver Coins when that period should arrive."

Idem, Sept. 19. "More than 100 of the inhabitants & tradesmen of Reading returned thanks to J.B. Monck, Esq, for the convenience afforded to them by the issue of his Silver Tokens, & expressed their surprize that an act should have been passed prohibiting the circulation of Gold & Silver Tokens after the 25th of March next, without any provision for the future supply of Silver, either from the Mint, or from the Bank of England.
Previously, however, to the date of these thanks, an issue of Bank Tokens for 3s & 1s6d fo a new type, had been made ; it took place upon the 18th of this month."

From the two notices immediately above, it appears that no brutal & arbitrary suppression of the private coppers actually took place, & that there was general agreement that the token coinages of all sorts were merely a stopgap for the want of regal issues, & even that they were countenanced by authority for this reason, being suppressed for quite another reason â€" entirely in opposition to the thesis advanced.

1813, March 13. "At the beginning of this year it became necessary to extend the circulation of private Tokens (which was to cease upon the 25th of this month) to the 5th day of July next following. Stat. 53 G III c 19."

Idem, July 10. "[A]nother Statute again extended the time for the circulation of private Tokens to the space of six weeks after the commencement of the next Session of Parliament ; and, in order to remove doubts which had arisen, it enacted, that the issuers of local Tokens should be liable in Law, upon demand made of the value denoted upon such Tokens, to pay the same. This provision not to extend to authorize the issuing of any Promissory Note, not being a Token composed of Gold or Silver, or of mixed Metal composed partly of Gold or Silver, not at that time issuable by Law. Sate 53 G III c 114. The margin states the Notes which were not issuable by Law to be those under 20s."

Idem, Nov. 26. "By an Act of this date, the circulation of Local Tokens was again extended to six weeks from the commencement of the next Session of Parliament. Stat 54 G III c 4."

Ruding again, under 1817, July [sic : clear from the text it should be June] 27. "The private Tokens of Copper or mixed Metal were now circulated in such quantities as to attract the notice of Government ; and accordingly an Act was past to forbid the making of such in future, under the penalty of any sum not less than one Pound, nor more than five, at the discretion of the Justice or Justices of the Peace who should hear & determine such offence.

"And it was further enacted, that from & after the 1st day of January, 1818, such Tokens shold no longer pass or circulate on pain of forfeiting for every piece not less than two Shillings, nor more than ten, at the discretion &c & c as before, whether the person so passing or circulating them should be or have been concerned in the original issuing or circulating of any such Token, or only the bearer or holder thereof for the time being. But nothing in the Act was to prevent any person from presenting such Token for payment to the original issuer thereof, or to discharge such original issuer from his liability to pay the same. And the Act was not to be construed as affecting any Tokens which had been, or might be, issued by the Bank of England.

"And whereas such Tokens, bearing the superscription 'Sheffield Penny Token', had been issued, from time to time, during the years 1812, 13, 14, & 15, by the Overseers of the Poor of the Township of Sheffield in the County of York, the immediate suppression of which would be attended with great loss to the said Township, & to the holders of such Tokens, being for the most part labourers & mechanicks, as well as with great inconvenience to the inhabitants of the said Township, & the neighbourhood thereof, it was therefore further enacted, that in case any such Sheffield Tokens, as had been issued by the Overseers of the Poor of that Township previous to the passing of the Act, should, after the 25th day of March, 1823, & previous to the 25th day of September in the same year, be presented to the said Overseers for the time being, or their agent, at the workhouse of the said Township, the said Overseers should receive such Tokens, paying to the holder thereof one Penny of the current Coin of the realm for each of them. In case of their refusal to do so, one Justice of the Peace to have power, upon complaint, to summon the Overseers, & (should he see just cause) to order them to receive such Tokens, & to pay one Penny for the same, with all costs & charges. Provided always that it should & might be lawful for the said Overseers to pay such Penny, but not the costs & charges, out of any Money received by them for the relief & maintenance of the Poor of the said Township.

"The Overseers to have power, should they deem it adviseable, to call in any amount of such Tokens at any time previous to the said 25th day of March, 1823, paying for each one Penny, as aforesaid.

"The like provision was made for Tokens bearing the superscription 'Birmingham one Penny', which had been issued from time to time during the years 1811, 12, 13, 14, 15 ; but the time for bringing them in was limited to any time previous to the 25th day of March, 1820, after which they were not to be passed & circulated.

"Nothing in the Act to extend, or be construed to extend, to any Copper Monies of the realm at that time current, or hereafter to be current, by virtue of any Proclamation that had been or might be issued by his Majesty. Stat 57 G II c 46."

The article itself gives a somewhat false impression of certain monetary legislation. The withdrawal of private bank notes below L5 was intended to encourage the use of gold in moderate-size transactions, in preference to credit in the form of notes, so that the liquidity crisis otherwise known as a bank panic would not result in a freezing up of everyday business. And the requirement for country banks to keep sums on deposit with the Bank of England in order for their notes to be accepted in payment of sums due the Crown was another measure to protect liquidity â€" we call it a reserve requirement. The Bank was not a competitor for ordinary commercial banking business, even then.

The mention of the Wyon family reminds me that several of them found employ with Heatons, somewhat after the period of this piece. One was involved in the setting-up of various mints overseas, & eventually died in Japan. See "Numismatic History of the Birmingham Mint".