Manchester 1793 Half Penny - Merchant Token - Antique UK Coin - ha'penny 1793- United Kingdom Emergency Coinage

This listing is for the photographed Manchester 1793 Half Penny. 

This was a provincial merchant token, produced during Britain's late-18th-century shortage of official small copper coins. It was intended to circulate as usable small change rather than being an official Royal Mint halfpenny. I. Fielding was associated with Manchester's commercial community, and the token reflects the city's enormous importance in the textile and cotton industry. The porter shown carrying a large bale represents the workers who handled cotton and other goods in Manchester's booming industrial economy. The reverse has the lion rampant and three fleurs-de-lis beneath a crown, associated with the Duke of Bridgewater. The surrounding inscription reads “SUCCESS TO NAVIGATION / SIC DONEC.” The reference specifically connects this design to the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal, which connected Worsley and Manchester and was enormously important to the city's industrial development.  The canal was particularly significant because it allowed coal from the Duke of Bridgewater's mines at Worsley to be transported cheaply into Manchester, helping fuel the city's developing industries.

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Manchester 1793 Half Penny - Merchant Token - Antique UK Coin - ha'penny 1793- United Kingdom Emergency Coinage