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England - 1791

Sir Bevois halfpenny

Obverse:

Sir Bevois, right.

Legend:

S^R BEVOIS SOUTHAMPTON

Exergue:

Under the bust: DUMAREST F .

Size:

28.1 mm.

Edge:

PAYABLE AT THE OFFICE OF W. TAYLOR R. V. MOODY & CO.

Reverse:

Arms of Hampshire. (Gules, in chief an imperial crown; in base a rose.)

Legend:

PROMISSORY 1791 HALFPENNY

Vern's Comments:

BELL N^o 3 D&H 89

SOUTHAMPTON Taylor, Moody & Co.
   Obverse :- Bust of Sir Bevois in armour with morion and plume; on his breast a small shield of Arms (Gules, charged with a rose), two roses being shown above the shield. [The Arms of Southampton are Per fesse argent and gules, three roses counter-charged, seeded or: which were probably those intended to be represented.]
Legend :- SIR BEVOIS SOUTHAMPTON
   Reverse :- Arms of Hampshire. (Gules, in chief an imperial crown; in base a rose.)
   Legend :- PROMISSORY HALFPENNY 1791
Edge :- PAYABLE AT THE OFFICE OF W. TAYLOR R. V. MOODY & CO.
Diesinker, Dumarest; manufacturer, Boulton. Common.

Comments. Walter Taylor was by trade a ship's carpenter, and he invented several improved types of tackle for the navy and also an efficient ship's pump. He established mills at Weston and later moved to Woodmill. His son was apprenticed to a block maker, whom he eventually succeeded in business and he also became his father's partner and lived at Portswood Green. The Taylor's mill supplied the navy until the Government established their own works; and then the Taylors moved to West Gatestreet by the West Quay in Southampton. and the token was issued from this factory, which was later destroyed by fire.
   The Taylor family was well known in the area, and one of them, a builder, bought Netley Abbey. The Portsmouth Green Volunteer Infantry was officered entirely by members of the Taylor family.
   Richard Vernon Moody was a member of the corporation and evidently connected with the company. He died in 1792.
   There is a rare prototype of this token which was never put into circulation. The obverse shows Sir Bevois in armour with helmet and plume, and the words ST DEVOIS beneath the truncation. Legend :- SOUTHAMPTON HALFPENNY. The reverse carries Arms: (Argent, an ear of barley and sprig of the hop plant, in base a tun; impaling azure, a gun tackle purchase, in pale) surmounted by the date, 1790. Legend :- BREWERY AND BLOCK MANUFACTORY UNITED COMPANY. Edge :- PAYABLE AT THE OFFICE OF W. TAYLOR R. V. MOODY AND CO ·X· The manufacturer and diesinker was Hancock. Only a few specimens were struck and as much as five guineas were paid for a specimen in Pye's time (D&H 84). Imitations were made by Westwood (D&H 85) and Jacobs (D&H 86) which were sold to the unsuspecting. The design was probably abandoned through the error of St. Bevois for Sir Bevois. It is noteworthy that the commercial coin was made by a different firm, suggesting a degree of acrimony between the proprietors and the manufacturer of this prototype. The Arms on the reverse were doubtless those of the private company.
   Sir Bevois was the hero of a fanciful mediaeval romance; but there appears to be no reason for doubting the existence of Sir Bevois of Southampton: that he was born in England and was Earl of Hamtoun at the time of the Battle of Hastings. He refused to bow to William the Conqueror and with the help of Hastings the Dane, fought William in Wales, and being defeated in A.D. 1070, fled to Carlisle.

Commercial Coins 1787-1804., pp. 57-58

England — Hampshire

D & H 89 — Portsmouth

Bell Pg: 57-58

O: A helmed bust to right. SR. BEVOIS SOUTHAMPTON

A. 58

R: Shield of arms, 1791. PROMISSORY HALFPENNY

E: PAYABLE AT THE OFFICE OF W. TAYLOR R. V. MOODY & CO.

Sir Bevois halfpenny