Hornsey Halfpenny, 1797

I've had an image of this coin in my collection for many years. It's always been an interesting but unremarkable oddity. That was until last year when I came across an article written by Peter Barber in a 1997 issue of the Hornsey Historical Society's annual Bulletin publication. In his fascinating piece, Peter demystifies the coin and others like it and gives it meaning. He explains,

"The year 1997 marked the two hundredth anniversary of the appearance of the Hornsey halfpenny'. That it was produced at all is a reflection of the fact that by the 1790s Hornsey had become known to and liked by enough people to make the production of a souvenir coin a commercial proposition"

Peter goes on to explain that due extended wars with revolutionary France, there were various shortages across Britain, one of which was a significant shortfall in the supply of coins.

"A way out had been found, however, even if it was, strictly speaking, illegal. From 1787 tradesmen had begun commissioning their own low-value copper 'coins' from London and particularly from Birmingham countermakers. These often possessed sophisticated minting machinery which could produce well-struck and attractively designed pieces which could appeal to local patriotism. The issuer gave these 'coins' (or 'tokens) as change to their customers and usually sold quantities of them to other retailers, who did not wish to strike their own tokens...

"Speculators soon saw the commercial potential of these token coins. They began to issue tokens as advertisements, as political propaganda, as a means of raising funds for charities such as the local poorhouse and purely as pieces for collectors. Their inscriptions still identified them as pennies, halfpennies or farthings, depending on their size and weight, but they were not intended to be used as small change and carried no information about how they could be redeemed.

"The Hornsey halfpenny falls into the last category..."

You can buy a copy of Bulletin 39 with Peter Barber's full article, "The Hornsey Halfpenny of 1797", on the HHS website.