Conder Tokens
Encyclopedia
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, access to mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
s, and there was little low value coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
age to be had in Anglesey thus they began minting their own penny
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
and half penny tokens
Token coin
In the study of numismatics, tokens are coin-like objects used instead of coins. The field of tokens is part of exonumia. Tokens are used in place of coins and either have a denomination shown or implied by size, color or shape...
. Not long after, others would follow suit and begin designing and minting their own small denomination coinage.
Copper coinage was produced sporadically from the late 17th century to the late 18th century, sometimes not at all, for various reasons. Conder Tokens are named after James Conder
James Conder
James Conder was an English businessman and numismatist. He is known for giving his name to Conder Tokens and because of the coincidence of an ancient hoard of coins found ten feet under his doorstep when his house was demolished.-Life:...
who was an early collector
Coin collecting
Coin collecting is the collecting or trading of coins or other forms of minted legal tender.Coins of interest to collectors often include those that circulated for only a brief time, coins with mint errors and especially beautiful or historically significant pieces. Coin collecting can be...
and cataloged these interesting coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s. They are copper coins (usually pennies and half pennies) minted by towns, businesses, and organizations of all types to meet a need for low denomination coinage that was not being provided, not being minted in sufficient quantity by government, or not making it out to the small towns. These lower denominations were needed to pay workers and make change in an increasingly industrialized society. Thousands of varieties of tokens were minted, many are beautiful and intricate works of art.
Because Conder Tokens were minted independently of government, the creators of these tokens had the freedom to make political statements, social commentary, honour great men, ideals, great events, or just advertise their businesses. Subjects range from Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
to Abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
and Prisons to Mental Institutions, issuers of the coins needed only have the means and the will to mint their own coin. Most were officially payable only in certain areas and locations but there is no doubt that copper coin was copper coin to many at the time and they were widely circulated.
Further reading
- Conder, James. An arrangement of Provincial Coins, tokens, and medalets issued in Great Britain, Ireland, and the colonies, within the last twenty years, from the farthing to the penny size. Ipswich: G. Jermyn, 1798.
- Dalton, Richard, and Samuel H. Hamer. The Provincial Token Coinage of the 18th Century. 1910-1917.