17th Century English Civil War Token 1653 Tower Hamlets London St Katherines Dairy Maid Deary Made Oliver Cromwell

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Tokens are a form of coinage produced by private businesses and institutions. They often come about when the government or monarch fails to mint enough coinage. This is a clear example of how the flexible free market comes to the rescue when centrally controlled monetary systems collapse. This commonly occurs during conflict, especially civil wars. The Industrial Revolution also provided the ideal conditions for tokens to flourish. The rapid flow of people from agricultural to industrial jobs put a massive strain on the availability of low denomination coinage.

The token featured in this blog was issued in 1653, in the aftermath of English Civil War. For many centuries, only the Monarch was allowed to issue money and anyone violating this law could be put to death. However, since Oliver Cromwell removed the king, Charles I, this no longer applied. Since there was no risk of execution and the long war had resulted in a shortage of coins, token production took off rapidly among 17th century merchants.

This particular token was issued by someone with the initials W.W. The rules on spelling seemed to be a lot more forgiving in the 17th century as most words inscribed on tokens are spelt phonetically. This is probably why it states “deary made” instead of dairy maid on the obverse of the token. The token also reveals a picture of a woman churning milk. I’m guessing the issuer owned a dairy, although one internet source
implies that it could be the name of a tavern.

Another interesting internet article reveals that the use of merchant signs was essential along the labyrinth of unnamed alleys and unnumbered houses in 17th century London. It also states that these signs became so important to customers that, when a new trader moved into the vacated premises, they might keep the sign even if it bore no relationship to their trade. Of course you can imagine how confusing this can be for the token collector in trying to identify what line of business the token issuer was in.

The creative spelling on this token also makes it difficult to identify the location of the issuer. Luckily, I found a website by the Tower Hamlets Numismatists Society that has done this job for me. So the inscription on the reverse of the token, “S. KATHERNS”, in fact refers to St Katherines, which is located in a part of London that is now known as Tower Hamlets.

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English Civil War Token Deary Made 1653 Tower Hamlets St Katherines

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