The Use of Seated Imagery in Numismatics
Europe


Obverse
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Reverse
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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description: 1/2P 1794 G.BRIT D&H-3C BEDFORDSHIRE - LEIGHTON
Grade: NGC MS 64 BN
Owner: coinsbygary
 
Set Category: Thematic & Topical Coins
Set Name: The Use of Seated Imagery in Numismatics
Slot Name: Europe
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

1/2P 1794 G.BRIT D&H-3C BEDFORDSHIRE – LEIGHTON: The firm of Chambers, Langston, Hall & Company specializing in the sale of lace issued this charming halfpenny token in 1794. It was payable at their shops in Leighton Buzzard, Berkhamsted, and London. To replenish their inventory of lace, Chambers, Langston, Hall & Company commissioned women living near their shops to manufacture it for them. The central device on the obverse of this token is a woman sitting underneath a tree in a relaxing environment working with fabric to make lace. Around the top rim of the token is the obverse legend, “Lace Manufactory”. Allegorically, the woman on this token is representative of what must have been a multitude of artistically skilled women fashioning lace for Chambers, Langston, Hall & Company. The central device on the reverse of this token is a sheep and the date 1794 in exergue. As such, the sheep represents wool, one of the raw materials used to make lace.The purpose for including this token in my set is to illustrate one of the many important tasks done from a seated position. Incidentally, the industrial revolution beginning around the issuance of this token, with the aide of machines, made it possible for many more jobs to be done from a seated position. Unfortunately, for the women manufacturing lace by hand the introduction of machines made lace cheaper and mass-producible. On the other hand, there will always be a premium paid for handmade crafts.

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