HORNREICH COLLECTION of World and U.S. Historical Medals Including So-Called Dollars
Walsall Withers-1158 Cu, Fletcher & Sharratt 1811 Penny Token

Owner Comments:

Medal (Token), 1811, Cu, WALSALL WITHERS-1158, FLETCHER & SHARRATT PENNY TOKEN, Great Britain, Staffordshire, NGC AU55, Cert# 454631-005. Copper penny token dated 1811. Obverse: View of St. Matthew's Church: “PAYABLE BY FLETCHER & SHARRATT”. Reverse: Legend on five lines within oak wreath: “WALSALL TOKEN ONE PENNY 1811”. Diagonally milled edge (/////). These were probably issued by Samuel Fletcher and Samuel Sharratt who were saddlers and iron-mongers with a business in Walsall. Difficult to find this nice. History of GB Tokens during this period: Between 1807 and 1821, no regal copper coins were struck resulting in a shortage of small change. This caused major problems, particularly in the growing industrial cities of the Midlands and north of England. For a period of 4 years, between 1811 and 1815, numerous factories, tradespeople and even workhouses issued tokens. The images depicted are generally of an industrial nature, showing factories and machinery, thus giving us a visual picture of the growing expansion of the machine age. They are particularly difficult to find in high grade.