Warwickshire D&H 362 Wilkinson

Obv: Bust of Wilkinson, IOHN WILKINSON IRON MASTER around. Rev: Man working drop hammer and forge, 1787 in exergue. Edge: WILLEY SNEDSHILL BERSHAM BRADLEY. Good Extremely Fine with some red remaining. Choice. Die state II. Minted by Thomas Williams for John Wilkinson and engraved by John Gregory Hancock. His trade tokens were full weight halfpenny tokens that were heavily circulated as currency. Also, many counterfeits were made at the time to take advantage of the popularity of these tokens. Thomas Williams was known as the ‘Copper King’ in 1787-88, but in 1789 would leave the minting business and sell his stake to Matthew Boulton at the Soho Mint in Birmingham.