Comments on: Bishopsgate Tavern Tokens https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/03/26/bishopsgate-tavern-tokens-x/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Mon, 28 Mar 2022 09:21:52 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: Steve Hanscomb https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/03/26/bishopsgate-tavern-tokens-x/#comment-1454673 Mon, 28 Mar 2022 09:21:52 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=191058#comment-1454673 Very interesting. I’ve always had an interest in trade tokens, more so than official coinage. There are some superb examples from the age of the industrial revolution with outstanding designs. I have a couple from factories in Lancashire that are fabulous and a couple from a copper mine on Anglesey that have a druid’s head surrounded by oak and mistletoe sprigs.
I have one token similar to these, produced in 1657 for my local pub in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, the King’s Head. The pub is a fantastic survivor, complete with it’s cobbled yard surrounded on three sides by stables. Aylesbury was a parliamentary garrison during the Civil War and the pub is one of many reputed to have been used by Cromwell. A civil war era sword and pistol were found hidden in one of the chimneys during restoration word in the 1920’s.
The coin, as stated was produced to fill a shortfall in coinage from the war.
The pub is now owned by the National Trust and is run by the Chiltern Brewery, serving excellent beers and food. Well worth a visit.

]]> By: Jennifer Newbold https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/03/26/bishopsgate-tavern-tokens-x/#comment-1454493 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 14:42:49 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=191058#comment-1454493 Canny, weren’t they…? Kept you coming back, because you could only use those coins at the establishment that issued them.

These tokens are survivors of a time when many things, and many folks, didn’t. It makes them even more remarkable in my eyes.

]]> By: paul loften https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/03/26/bishopsgate-tavern-tokens-x/#comment-1454490 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 14:14:59 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=191058#comment-1454490 A few weeks ago I was called for Jury service and I had to go during the tube strike and walk through Bishopsgate to my destination . Although I dont live that far away I have not had occasion to go there for a long time . The last time I walked through the streets of Bishopsgate may have been when I worked in the City in the 70’s. The old tokens are a reminder of the layers of time which cover this important area of London that can be lifted to reveal a completly different reality for each era . My walk to the Monument took me into a new world from the one I knew in the 70’s

]]> By: C Scofield https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/03/26/bishopsgate-tavern-tokens-x/#comment-1454485 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 12:57:27 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=191058#comment-1454485 Interesting!

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