1656 Henry Jenner Portsmouth

It's a 17th-century token issued during the Commonwealth by a tradesman. They are quite collectable but I don't have a value for this one: maybe another CCF member can help. Most tokens are for a halfpenny or a farthing and were issued because there was a big shortage of small change at the time, since no official copper farthings or halfpennies were being minted.

The mid-1600s were a turbulent time in English history; it was nearing the end of the Commonwealth period, with the central republican government unstable and fluctuating. Prior to the revolution, royal assent had been given to certain nobles to make copper farthings, but these rights were revoked under the Commonwealth and Parliament instituted no other replacement farthing coinage. The smallest denomination being officially struck under the Commonwealth were tiny silver halfpennies, though these are so scarce today that I doubt they were ever issued in large enough numbers to meet the needs of the people. Inflation had by this time shrunk the penny to a small silver coin that could no longer be conveniently cut into pieces so in order to make change; people resorted to making their own tokens, using copper or brass.

The token system was unwieldy, cumbersome, technically illegal and vulnerable to fraud, but the government of the day turned a blind eye to them and saw no reason to change things until after the restoration of the monarchy. They do make for an interesting snapshot of everyday life in the Commonwealth period; many historians and genealogists can find useful evidence of who lived where and when from the evidence preserved by these tokens.