Great Britain - 1797

½ Penny Token

(D & H 21 - Staffordshire, Stafford)
Obverse - Great Britain - 1797 Reverse - Great Britain - 1797
Obverse :- Armorial bearings of the Town of Stafford. (A castle triple-towered proper, between four lions passant gardant or.) The tincture is not discernible on the token, and there should be a fifth lion in base, and a mount vert, at the base of the castle.
Legend: STAFFORD 1797
Reverse :- A cypher W H in ornamental script characters with a flourish intended for a "Stafford Knot," but incorrectly rendered.
Legend: HALFPENNY. and a cross crosslet on either side.
Edge: PAYABLE BY HORTON AND COMPANY .+ +.
Diesinker, Willetts; manufacturer, Kempson. One ton struck. Common. There is a variant, D&H 21, with the lions a little higher.
Size, 29 mm.
 
Comments: The cypher is the initial letters of William Horton, a boot and shoe manufacturer in Stafford, and also a member of the town council.
   The obverse is supposed to present the armorial bearings of Stafford, but Debrett states that the town Seal shows a fish naiant instead of a lion in base, and the castle entrance appears portcullised with the gates thrown open.
   The Stafford knot, represented by the flourish beneath the cypher, is the badge of the Stafford family, but it is incorrectly rendered on the token.
Commercial Coins 1787-1804., pp. 161-162
D & H 21 - Stafford Penny
O: Similar to last, but the lions are a little higher, and the letters of legend do not spread out to the edge so far as the lions do.
R: and E:
A. 18
As last.