English Trade Tokens
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of approximately 650 trade tokens of which 304 are English and promote Great Britain in its overall numismatic and Scottish history and banking collections. A trade token was usually made of cheap metals or other materials. One group of three tokens carries the motto ‘pure copper preferable to paper’ which supported the idea of the token over paper money. It was used instead of legal tender representing small value coins and issued to workers. They were commonly used to barter in stores where the employer or issuer already owned or had a trade deal in place. Trade tokens can bear the names of the employers or issuers as well as images of their factories and canals with related industries including coal, iron, copper, textiles, goldsmiths, warehousing, auctioneering, grocery, fishing, baking, farming and shipping in general. In the English trade token collection businesspeople in major cities throughout the country such as London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Norwich are represented. Smaller towns are also represented as are counties and individuals. One example are tokens for John Wilkinson’s ironworks in Shropshire. Military leaders including Wellington, Nelson and Howe are also celebrated as is the British Navy or even military buildings such as Norwich barracks. They can also represent countries through historic figures including King Alfred, Sir Isaac Newton and William Shakespeare or contemporary literary figures such as Dr Samuel Johnson. Others carry patriotic mottos promoting trade, commerce and industry supporting the United Kingdom’s empire and government. Some tokens also bear images of the ruling monarchs and royal family in support of Great Britain and one defends the French monarchy from revolution and regime change. The collection corresponds with the wider trade token collection representing other countries where trade tokens were used too, some of which were then considered within the British empire. The date range for the collection runs from the late 1700s to mid-1800s.
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