The passage is obscure, and does not sufficiently give the information wanted, as the great bulk of these tokens were issued during the time of the Commonwealth and the reign of Charles II.
The study of Tradesmen's tokens has met with such unmerited contempt from some of our ablest antiquaries, that it seems rash to attempt an apology for them; but any one who is well acquainted with them knows the fund of amusement and instruction that may be derived from them, and if they continue to be slighted as they have been, many specimens will be irretrievably lost to future antiquaries. A few further remarks on them may be interesting to your general readers.
After a careful calculation, I cannot estimate the number of these tokens at less than 40,000, and I think that number less than the real quantity; from various correspondence with collectors, I always find that they have a large number different to mine. Mr. Akerman has described 2461 in his list of London Tokens only. The great loss to the public compelled the Government to put them down under the severest penalties: very large numbers may be picked out of a collection, which would require a dozen to weigh a modern halfpenny; their paltry intrinsic value, no doubt, prompted many unprincipled shopkeepers to issue them, from the profit they derived from the quantity which would be lost, owing to their small size. There is scarcely a village that had not its local currency. I possess tokens of 684 cities, towns, and villages.
Amongst the different trades and professions which appear on the tokens, that of a Musician is seldom met with: the following is an interesting example, and furnishes an early example of Punch—
Henry Laude, Newark, says, "Noe want where these are." The cruel sport of cock fighting is on the token of William Docker, of Leeds, drawer. Gateshead has a punning coat of arms—a goat's head: to the lovers of Heraldry there is a fund of amusement; besides the Arms of the Trading Companies of London, we have the Arms of Corporations, and families. Many of the Corporations issued their tokens: Wotton-under-Edge has, "This farthing token will be owned by the Mayor and Aldermen." The Bristol Corporation farthing is of good size and execution: many different dies were used. It is an exceedingly common token, and remarkable, as being the only one issued in that important commercial town. Many names of towns appear on these tokens, which would puzzle a gazetteer to find out: two names occur to me at this moment, Ozed and Fairefax.
To those who are interested in Tokens, I would recommend the "Reliquiæ Antiquæ Eboracenses, or Remains of Antiquities in Yorkshire," which can be supplied by you: two numbers are published, each containing a plate of Yorkshire Tokens.
William Boyne.