Anyone researching in the British Isles that is lucky or good enough to have researched their family back to the 17th century might want to check out if their ancestors struck coins or trade tokens.
Without going into too much detail, the main reason for allowing extensive striking of coins and tokens in the 17th century was the shortage of official coins (made by the Crown) with a small enough value for use for everyday items.
These 'home struck' coins were in circulation for at least a quarter of a century throughout England and Wales around the time of Charles I's execution (1649). Many influences caused this shortage of small-change coins and governing bodies at the time were unwilling to remedy the situation. During this time there was also an unwillingness to issue official coinage of intrinsic value in metals other than precious metals such as silver and gold.
How can a 'home struck' coin help in genealogical research?
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Image courtesy of
mcsearch.info
Token from The
Strickland Neville Rolfe Collection
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The front of the above token shows the name Benjamin Mills (1657). The reverse shows the initials M B A (Lavenham).
The top initial 'M' is for the surname (Mills)
The left bottom initial 'B' is for the Christian name (Benjamin)
The right bottom initial 'A' is usually for the Christian name of a spouse.
So in this case we can assume that Benjamin Mills married someone whose name began with 'A'.
Does anyone have access to the Suffolk parish records to confirm this? It would be interesting to see if we can find Benjamin's spouse.
Here are some other tips for Genealogical Resources.
Please bear in mind that the above article is written in good spirit and I am by no means an expert on British Isles coins and tokens.
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