1 Penny 1784-1787

Weight

16.4 g

Diameter

33 mm

Thickness

NA

Material

Copper

Shape

Round

Edge Type

Engrailed

Technique

Milled

Front design

Arms of the Earls of Peterborough with supporters.

Back design

Inscription and denomination.

Year of Minting

1784-1787

Ruler

NA

Mint location

Soho Mint , Handsworth, England (1788-1850)

Mint mark

NA

Orientation

NA

Inscriptions

Obverse: NEC PLACIDO CONTENTA QUIETE EST Reverse: HALSALL D

Context

Possibly the first copper token of the industrial revolution and the first coins produced by Matthew Boulton, minted to pay the workers at Colonel Mordaunt’s cotton mill in Lancashire. Charles Mordaunt, born in 1730, was son of a nephew of the Earl of Peterborough. He set up a cotton mill at his estate at Halsall, but the lack of water to power it led him to talk to Boulton and Watt, of Soho, Birmingham, about supplying an engine. On 2nd December 1783, he also wrote to them asking for a die to stamp copper to pay his workforce, with the Earl of Peterborough’s Coat of Arms on the obverse, and Halsall on the reverse. The pennies were made as in the letter. Matthew Boulton did not have a mint at the time, but had been producing coin weights at Soho since 1775. According to 'State of the Copper Coins in Circulation at Liverpool, Anno 1791' (Lancashire Record Office, Preston), the Halsall Penny was no longer in circulation by that time. Anglesey pennies had arrived in 1787, which were heavier and so more acceptable.

Rarity

Ultra rare

Coin type

Emergency coinage › Merchant tokens

In circulation

No

Demonetized

Yes

Marketplace listings

0