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Auction: 20122 - Spink Numismatic e-Circulars 2 Part I: Toy Money, Tokens,Tickets and Medals
Lot: 762

Yorkshire, Sheffield, Workhouse, Bread Tokens (2), uniface bracteate clichés, in white metal [tin ?], on a round flan, SHEFFIELD WORKHOUSE | 6lbs . LOAF, coat of arms in centre, 45.3mm., 12.77g, apparently unlisted, extremely fine, very rare; another, in copper alloy, on an oval flan, SHEFFIELD WORKHOUSE | 3lbs. LOAF, 48mm. x 29.5 mm., 7.21g, lightly cleaned, and double struck through reverse, otherwise a bold very fine, scarce; an interesting pair (2)

With a collector's note stating: 'Simmons Gallery auction [Leytonstone] -£66'



Little can be deduced for these undated and unattested Bread Tokens, which also escaped the attention of Llewellyn Jewitt and his comprehensive sylloge: 'The Traders' Tokens of Sheffield' (BAR, Vol. 30, 1874, pp. 25-37). Whilst the cataloguer is aware of a small handful of examples of the 3 lbs Loaf ticket coming to market, they have been unable to trace a second example of the 6lbs. It is probable that these were issued in accordance with the Act of Parliament (27 July 1817), which banned the further production of privately issued tokens in Britain, but permitted the continued circulation of Sheffield Workhouse tokens until March 1823 to support the local economy. If the production was later still, it almost certainly came before the relocation of the Sheffield Workhouse from its situation at West Bar in 1829.

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