Lavers, the Bookseller.
Overseal, Ashby de la Zouch.
Sir,—I should be very much obliged to any of your correspondents who will give me information respecting Mr. Lavers, a bookseller in London, who flourished about the third quarter of the last century; especially any thing relating to his wife and descendants.
Very faithfully yours,
J. M. Gresley.
13th Feb. a.d. 1852.
Tradesmen's Tokens.—Can any of your readers inform me if there are any Tradesmen's Tokens of Scotland, issued during the 17th century; and if not, can any cause be assigned for it. I have a very large collection of tokens of the 17th century, of England, Wales, and Ireland, but not one of Scotland, which is very singular, as the towns of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Sterling, Perth, &c. must have had as great need of a small currency, as many small villages in England, of which there are many specimens.
By far the most numerous of the English tokens belong to the Southern and Midland districts: of the city of Oxford alone I have 62 varieties. The Northern Counties are much fewer in number: of Cumberland I have only tokens of two towns, Carlisle and Cockermouth; of Northumberland, the town of Newcastle only; of Westmoreland, Appleby, Kendal, and Kirby Steven.
The ordinary value is the halfpenny for the Southern Counties, having usually the Arms of some Company of the City of London, and the initials of the issuer, his wife and family name, with the name, trade and business at full length. The great bulk of these tokens are of a monotonous character, with a few curious exceptions.