Given recent reports of a shortage of modern coinage in the State, felt especially by retailers, perhaps an old solution might be revisited.
Tokens were private coinage issued usually by merchants or other organisations when coins were in short supply, especially in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The government allowed private tokens to be issued, although there were controversies when some businesses went bust and tokens couldn't be redeemed.
"In the old days, a merchant would issue his own token. It would have his name on it, maybe an advertisement as well, for a halfpenny or a penny, says Mr Ian Whyte of Whyte's auctioneers in Marlborough Street, Dublin.
These pennies would sometimes get into circulation and be accepted depending on the particular merchant's reputation. So if he was well-known, his token could be quite widely accepted throughout the State. Tokens were used as change and were usually only cashed at the owner's business. But "there were other instances where you would have say a mill in the country or a factory where the people who owned the factory also owned the village. They would own all the stores, the pub, whatever. And they would pay their workers in tokens. And of course these tokens could only be re-spent in the owner's establishments."
This meant the business owner could probably afford to pay the workers a little bit more because all the money was coming back to him, he says.
Charity tokens - another kind of token - were issued by charitable institutions. In some cases, the tokens stipulated that they couldn't be used to buy alcohol. Or they could be used only to buy bread and certain foodstuffs and only at certain depots.
Tokens were shaped like coins to give them the feel of money, so people recognised their value. Tokens had to be authorised by the government and it did so because this saved it from minting a lot of copper coinage, which was very expensive, he says.
An auction of Irish tokens three years ago at Whyte's made around £35,000. It was the biggest collection of Irish tokens, including some rare ones.
The most valuable one in that auction fetched £2,500 and was issued by a coal mine in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny in about 1805. It was a Spanish American silver dollar with an oval countermark (where you stamp a design into a coin).
The stamp read: "5s 5d payable at Castlecomer colliery".
Known as a "trade dollar", the mine paid their workers with these and they also traded with them. "They used them as international trade," says Mr Whyte. "The Castlecomer dollars, as they were called, turned up as far away as Hong Kong."
The Bank of Ireland issued their own tokens for 5d, 10d, 30d and 6 shillings between 1805 and 1810.
The earliest known Irish tokens date from around the 1650s. They record the business, its name, location and date, such as: "The Coffee House in Dublin. Lyonel Newman 1664."
There were also two-penny tavern tokens from pubs, often given out as a discount to encourage people to drink in their tavern. Today, these range in value from £10 to £100.
The Irish International Coin Fair takes place tomorrow and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Gresham Hotel, O'Connell Street, Dublin, while today the venue hosts a public auction of coins, medals and banknotes. Organisers also expect a wide array of tokens at the fair. Leading Irish and overseas dealers will be present and free expert valuations will be offered. Admission £2 (children £1).
jmarms@irish-times.ie
