This listing is for the photographed 1794 Portsea Halfpenny Token. This is for the actual coin pictured. Amazing piece of history. More information on this coin type below. Excellent detail, and a great piece for a collection.
Conder tokens, also known as 18th-century provincial tokens, were a form of privately minted token coinage struck and used during the later part of the 18th century and the early part of the 19th century in England, Anglesey and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
The driving force behind the need for token coinage was the shortage of small denomination coins for everyday transactions. However, the demand was fueled by other factors such as the Industrial Revolution, population growth, and the preponderance of counterfeit circulating coins. Because the government made little effort to ameliorate this shortage, private business owners and merchants took matters into their own hands, and the first tokens of this type were issued in 1787 to pay workers at the Mine Company. By 1795, millions of tokens of a few thousand varying designs had been struck and were in common use throughout Great Britain.
1794 Hampshire-Portsea Halfpenny Token - Higher Grade - Condor Token 1794, No "Payable" variety, 1794 Portsea 1/2 Penny