Arms found on Merchant Tokens, 1644-1673

This page describes the coats of arms found on merchant tokens issued in England between 1644 and 1673.

At the time, a scarcity of small change and the absence of any contrary regulation led many merchants to issue their own coins, for values ranging from a farthing to a penny. These were made of copper and were redeemable on demand, when presented in sufficient quantity, by the issuer whose name was on the token. This phenomenon was widespread. Over 12,700 different tokens from 1,700 different English towns have been catalogued. it was ended when the royal government asserted a monopoly on the coinage of small denominations and proceeded to issue its own pennies and half-pennies.

R. H. Thompson has been cataloguing the tokens of the Norweb collection. So far, 5 volumes have appeared in the Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles published in London by Spink (vols. 31, 38, 43, 44, 46). These volumes cover all English counties except London and Middlsex, which will appear in later volumes, as will Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. The catalogue is completely illustrated and each token precisely described. Moreover, there is an index of types, so that armorial tokens can be very easily found.

Armorial tokens, about a hundred, are few in comparison with the thousands of tokens issued over all They represent only 2% of the tokens catalogued by Thompson. Almost all tokens bear the name of the issuer in the legend of the token; the center of the coin is filled with initials, depictions or arms of towns or corporations. I have only listed the tokens where the field represents a shield with heraldic charges, and I have excluded arms of corporations and towns (many towns issued their own tokens; members of various corporations such as the brewers or grocers used those arms on their tokens).

What is interesting is that few of these arms can be identified from visitation records or grants. (I trust Thompson's extraordinary diligence on the matter). Most can be from Burke's General Armory, Papworth's Ordinary or local works (Joan Corder's Arms of Suffolk, 1965), but we do often not know the authority for the arms. There is one instance of arms that are known to have been later disclaimed. There is an interesting example of a Flemish family settled in England, continuing to use its merchant mark on a shield with an English-style crest; the family later adopted or was granted heraldic arms.

The following table presents the information. The first column gives the description of the arms as made by Thompson; the second gives the identifying legend on the token in quotation marks, as well as additional biographical information found by researchers between brackets. The third column gives the place of origin of the token (town and county). The fourth, when applicable, gives the reference for the identification of the arms. The last column gives the reference to Thompson's catalogue (volume number in lowercase Roman numerals and token number).

Notes