This is a historical site about early London coffee Houses and Taverns and will also link to my current pub history site and also The London street directory
LONDON TRADERS, TAVERN, AND COFFEE-HOUSE TOKENS, CURRENT 1649-1672. :
The # prefix is the numbering of the Beaufoy collection, and B is the prefix of additional tokens listed in the Boynes collection.
Index of Tradesmens tokens.
B1309. Obverse. Elizabeth . Fellsted . at . ye = A hen and chickens.
R. AT . HAMONS . KEY . 1667 = HER HALF PENY. E . F.
B1310. Obverse. Dorothy . Sell . at . the = A hen and chickens.
R. ON . HAMONS . KEY . 1668 = HER HALF PENY. D . S.
B1311. Obverse. at . the . hen . and = A. hen and chickens.
R. CHICKINS . AT . HAMONS . KEY = JOHN SELL, between S . R . 1/4
Hand yard appears to have been on the north side of Holborn. Hand court, nearly
opposite to Great Turnstile, a well-known thoroughfare to Bedford row, was
formerly known as Hand alley.
#583 WILLIAM BARRETT. IN HAND A hand, in the field.
Rev. YARD IN HOLBORN . 1668 HIS HALFE PENNY.
Harp alley, formerly called Harper alley, was for many years the mart of signs
and sign-irons. Carved grapes and gilded sugar-loaves, for pendants, were till
recently displayed in the shops ; but the main character of the neighbourhood is
wholly changed : it is the bathos of the professions of gilders and painters.
#584 HENRY BROWNE AT HARPE HIS HALFE PENNY.
Rev. ALLEY END . AT DITCH SIDE In field, H. T. B.
B1313. Obverse. RICHARD . LOMAX . AT . THE = A Star.
R. STARE . IN . HARP . LANE = R . A . L. 1/4
B1314. Obverse. George . Browne . at . y e . thre = Three geese or pies.
R. IN . HART . STREET . COVEN . GARDEN = HIS HALFE PENY.
B1315. Obverse. the . maiden . head = Bust of the Virgin, crowned.
R. HARTS . HORNE . LANE . END = T . M . H. 1/4
B1316. Obverse. HENRY . MORRELL . AT . Y E . LIME = H . E . M.
R. WHARF . IN . HART . HORNE. LANE = HIS HALFE PENNY.
B1317. Obverse. O. the . anchor . at . harts = I . T and an anchor.
R. Horne . lae . end = i . t and an anchor. 4 -
Evelyn mentions in his Diary, June 7th, 1659, his going " to see the foundations
laying for a street and buildings in Hatton garden, designed for a little town,
lately an ample garden."
#585 THOMAS PRENCE IN Three sugar-loaves, and T. M. P.
Rev. HATTON GARDEN In field, HIS HALFE PENY.
#586 REBECKA NEGVS A game cock, in the field AT
Rev. HATTON WALL . 1657 In the field, R. N.
B1318. Obverse. John . ball . at . the = Bust of Charles II. crowned.
R. IN . HATTON . GARDEN . l666 = HIS HALFE PENNY.
B1319. Obverse. JOHN . BARKER . AT . THE . BALL = Detrited.
R. AND . CAP . IN . HATTON . GARDEN = HIS HALFE PENNY.
B1320. Obverse. Fra . Brett . att = A lion rampant.
R. HATTON . WALL = 1659. 1/4
B1321. Obverse. Joseph . Kinge . his . Halfe . Penny (in four lines).
R. AT . YE . CROWN . IN . HATTON . GARDEN = A Crown.
It appears from “AVademecum for Maltworms,” part ii., p. 46, that the Crown was
at one time kept by a certain Mr. Hammond.
B1322. Obverse. Thomas . Lane . his . halfe. peny (in three lines across the
field).
R. AT . THE . GOLDEN . IN . HATON . GARDEN = A full-blown rose.
B1323. A variety reads :
Obverse. Thomas . Lane . his . hafe . penny (in four lines across the field).
R. at . ye . golden . in . haton . garden = A bell suspended.
B1325. Obverse. EDWARD . NUTBY = HIS HALF PENY.
R. in . Hatton . Garden . 67 = A hand holding a bird.
B1326. Obverse. EDWARD . NUTBY = LEATHER CUTTER.
R. IN . HATTON . STREET = E . D . N. 1/4
B1327. Obverse. Henry . Panton . in . hatton = The Mercers’ Arms.
R. GARDEN . HIS . HALF . PENNY = H . R . P.
B1330. Obverse. RICHARD . SHIPTON . AT . THE = A Still.
R. STILL . IN . HATTON . GARDEN = HIS HALF PENY.
B1331. Obverse. John . Slater . at . Y k . ewe . and = xA ewe suckling a lamb.
R. LAMBE . IN . HATTEN . GARDEN = HIS HALFE PENNY. 1668.
B1332. Obverse. EDWARD . WARING = HIS HALF PENY.
R. AT . HATTEN . WALL = A whip.
#587 IAMES WARREN . 1664 A half-moon, in the field.
Rev. IN THE HAYMARKETT . HIS HALF PENNY.
The reverse, in five lines across the field.
B1333. Obverse. HENRY . BENGOUGH . AT . YE . GOATE = A goat and ball.
R. IN . YE . HAYMARKETT = HIS HALFE PENNY.
B1334. Obverse. John . Crosbie . in . ye . hay = A half-moon.
R. MARKET . MEALEMAN = I . E . C. 1/4
B1335. Obverse. Simon . Harney . 1664 (in three lines across the field).
R. IN . THE . HAYMARKETT = S . A . H. 1/4
B1336. Obverse. NATHANIELL . ROBINS . AT . THE = SEA COALE SELLER. 1666.
R. HAYMARKET . IN . PICKADILLA = HIS HALFE PENNY. 1666.
One of the very few instances of a token issued by a coal merchant.
Vide Nos. 1278, 1898, 1899, 2073, 3 02 7 > ar >d 3494 -
B1338. Obverse. at . the . George = St. George and the Dragon.
R. IN . HELMAN . COVRT = S . E . B. 1/4
B1339. Obverse. JOHN . HAWARD . IN . HELMET = HIS HALFE PENY.
R. court . in . st . katherns = St. George and Dragon.
B1340. Obverse. Charles . Morgan . grocer = An angel ; on one side c, on the
other m over s.
R. HENRIETA . STREET . COVENT . GARDEN = HIS HALFE PENY.
“ A Lexicacus, or the famous Spirit of Salt of the World, good against the
Scurvy, Fevours, the Stone, Rheums, &c. prepared Philosophically (not after the
Common way) by Constantine Rodocanaces . an approved Grcecian Chymist , is to be
had at the said Grcecian's house, next the 'Three Kings' Inne , in
New-Southampton Buildings , sealed up in Quantities of is., 2s., 4s. and 8s. a
Glass, together with a Book of the Virtues, and use of the said Spirit; and it
is likewise to be had at . . . Mr. Morgan's , Grocer, in Henrietta-Street ,
Covent-Gar den. ... In all which Places may be had also a Balsamick-Salt sealed
up, and portable.”—The Nerves,
No. 62, August 4, 1664, p. 500.
‘ Several Chymicall Preparations , besides those mentioned by Mr. Boyle in his
Book of the usefulness of Natural and Experimental Philosophy , made by a
skilful
hand ; are sold by Mr. Morgan, a Grocer , in Henrietta Street, Covent-Garden.”
—The London Gazette , No. 242, March 9-12, 1667.
B1341. Obverse. at . ye . dolphin . in = A dolphin.
R. HENERATY . STREETE = E . M . W. 1/4
" On the east side and by north of the Tower, lieth East Smithfield. From
thence, Nightingale lane, which runneth south to the Hermitage, a brewery, so
called of a hermit sometime being there." Stow, edit. 1603.
#588 KINGS HEAD TAVERN Head of King Henry the Eighth.
Rev. AT THE HERMITAGE In the field, W. E. A. 1/4
#589 WILLIAM KEDWARD BAKER HIS HALFE PENY.
Rev. AT THE HERMETTAGE Bakers Company arms.
590 JOHN NEWELL NEA E Ye Stick of candles, in the field.
Rev. HERMITAGE STAIERS In the field, a Virginian, with bow and arrow.
Evidently a ship-chandler, made candles, and sold the best Virginian tobacco.
B1343. A variety has the initials S . E . H.
B1344. Obverse. B . H. 1671.
R. LYME . WHARFE . AT . HERMITAGE . BRIDG (in five lines).
B1345. Obverse. WILL . HODGES . AT . THE . GOLDEN = An anchor.
R. NEAR . HARMITAGE . BRIDG = W . H . H. 1/2
B1347. Obverse. JOHN . MAYHEW . GOVLDSMITH = HIS HALF PENY.
R. NEARE . THE . ARMITAGE . BRIDG = I . M. 1666.
B1349. Obverse. THO . ERWIN . IN . HIGH . TIMBER = MEALMAN. A plough.
R. STREET . NEAR . QVEEN . HITHE = HIS HALFE PENNY. T . S . E.
B1350. Obverse. AT . YE . END . OF . HIGH . timber = Three tobacco- pipes.
R. STREET . NEAR . QVEEN . HITH — HIS HALF PENY. L . F . F. (Octagonal.)
B1351. Obverse. next . to . the . chek . ker = A sugar-loaf.
R. TAVERNE . IN . HI . STREET = G . A . H.
The tokens under this heading have been transferred from Hockliffe, in
Berkshire.
“There was a noted house of entertainment near Clerkenwell Green, London, called
Hockley-in-the-Hole, celebrated for bear and bull-baitings, and for
prize-fighting betwixt women as well as men.”—Cunningham’s “ Handbook of
London.”
“To Hocklayhole as I approached
Scvlla’s balmy cell I broached,
Dark as th’ cave of Pluto’s station,
Or Laverna’s habitation ;
Quaffing there while I could stand-o,
Madder grew I than Orlando.”
Barnabee's Journal.
B1352. Obverse. William . Coverlee . in = The Coopers’ Arms.
R. HOCKLEY . HOLE . HIS . HALF . PENY = W . E . C.
B1353. Obverse. George . Hall . at . mother = A three-quarter female figure.
R. REDCAPS . IN . HOCKLEY . HOLE = G . M . H. 1/4
B1354. Obverse. Ann . Traver . at . the = A flying horse.
R. in . hockley . hole . 1667 = The Coopers’ Arms. 1/2
" East of the parish church of St. Botolph, Aldgate, were several inns for the
reception of travellers, up to Hog lane end, some within the Bars, and a mark
was there showing how far the liberties of the city extended. This Hog lane, now
called Petticoat lane and Artillery lane, stretched north to Bishopsgate street.
In Stow's time, about 1598, it had rows of elms on each side, with bridges and
stiles to pass over into pleasant fields, but is now a continued building from
Houndsditch to Whitechapel, and farther." Seymour's Survey of London, 1734, vol.
i. p. 276.
#591 JOHN BAVET Dog leading a horse by the bridle, in field.
Rev. IN HOGG LANE In the field, I. A. B.
B1355. Obverse. John . BAVET = A horse and dog.
R. IN . HOGG . LANE = I . A . B. 1/4
B1356. Obverse. WILLIAM . CREAKE = W . M . C.
R. IN . HOG . LANE . 1653 = W . M . C. 1/4
For Holborn etc
B1490. Obverse. Tho . Holmes . IN . holyday = A lion rampant.
R. YARD . NEERE . LVDGATE = HIS HALF PE.NY. 1669.
B1491. Obverse. Natha . Wastall = A magpie.
R. IN . HOLLIDA . YARD = N . G . W. 1/4
B1492. Obverse. Francis . Ellis . in . hollis = Three tuns. F . M . E.
R. STREET . IN . NEW . MARKET = HIS HALFE PENNY.
B1493. Obverse. THOMAS . SHUTTLEWOOD . AT . YE = HIS HALFE PENY.
R. holly . street . in . Newmarket = A ball suspended. T . S.
623 EDMVND BANNISTER IN HOLLO A lion rampant, in the field.
Rev. WAY LANE SHORDITCH 1668 HIS HALFE PENY. E. E. B.
Holywell street, extending from St. Clement's churchyard to the church of St.
Mary-le-Strand, was, as Strype in 1720 describes the street, ( ' commonly called
the back of St. Clement's, a place inhabited by divers salesmen and piece
-brokers." Silkmen, bodice and stay makers were here formerly congregated,
chiefly distinguished by the signs of the Half-Moon, the Golden Key, and the
Indian Queen, as depicted on engraved shop-bills ; but since London progressed
westwards, the silk-mercers and stay makers have wholly abandoned the street,
and there are now more publishers of periodicals, booksellers, and stallmen
located here, than of any other trade.
#624 AT THE BODY [or BODICE] MAKER In the field, W. S.
Rev. IN HOLY WELL STRET A bodice, or pair of stays.
For other tokens in this street, see those of St. Clement’s, reading “ The
Backside of St. Clement’s,” by which name it was commonly called.
B1494. Obverse. AT . THE . Libards . [he]ads = Three leopards’ heads.
R. IN . HOLAWAY . STREET = W . M . K. 1/4
B1496. Obverse. Roger . Woodcoke = A woodcock.
R. IN . HOLLAWAY . STREET = R . E . W. 1/4
B1497. Obverse. Cha . Danvers . at . ye . anchor = An anchor.
R. IN . HONY . LANE . MARKET = C . H . D. 1/2 1670.
Horslydown is a perversion of Horse down, originally having been a grazing
ground for horses. A letter among the Paston Papers, dated Horshighdon, January,
1456, shows the appellation at that time to have been Horsey down.
#625 PETER HALL . MELMAN A wheatsheaf, in the field.
Rev. IN HORSLEYDOWNE In the field, P. M. H.
#626 HENRY CRICH . IN HIS HALF PENY, in the field.
Rev. HORSLY DOWNE LANE A wheatsheaf ; H. A. C.
#627 RICHARD PACK . 1669 The Butchers Company arms.
Rev. IN HORSE DOVNE LANE HIS HALF PENY.
#628 THOMAS STOKES IN In the field, HIS HALF- PENY.
Rev. HORSLYDOWN LANE Two hands joined ; T. A. S.
#629 AT THE SHVGER LOFF A sugar-loaf, iji the field.
Rev. HORSEY DOVNE STARES In the field, R. G. s.
#630 THE SHVGER LOFE AT A sugar-loaf, in the field.
Rev. HORSLY DOWN STARES In the field, w. K. F.
#631 AT THE SUGER LOFE A sugar-loaf, in the field.
Rev. IN HOSER LANE . 1651 In the field, I. R. P.
#632 RICHARD NORWOOD . SALTER A nag's head, in the field.
Rev. IN OSIER LANE . 1668 HIS HALFE PENY.
B1498. Obverse. Golden . Windmill = A windmill.
R. IN . HOSIER . LANE = M . F. 1/4
B1499. Obverse. Richard . Langhorne . at . y e = Three crowns.
R. IN . OSIER . LANE . SALTER = HIS HALFE PENY.
B1500. Obverse. ANDREW . LEAKE . AT . YE = A harrow.
R. IN . HOSIER . LANE.= HIS HALFE PENY. large 1/2
B1503. Obverse. William . Jonas . in . hovting = A ram’s head.
R. STREET . IN . NEW . MARKIT . 68 = HIS HALFE PENY. W . A . I.
B1504. Obverse. Will . Jonas . Howting — A greyhound’s head.
R. STREET . NEW . MARKET = W . A . I. 1/4
The ditch of the city extending from Aldgate, north-east to Bishopsgate, called
" Houndesditch, for that in old time, when the same lay open, much filth,
conveyed forth of the city, especially dead dogs, were there laid or cast." Such
is Stow's definition ; but the greater probability is, that the appellation was
derived from the establishment of the hounds, which constituted the city kennel,
being there maintained in the fifteenth century in a filthy manner. Arnold's
Chronicle, printed soon after 1500, contains a petition to the lord mayor,
aldermen, and common council, referring to the abominable savours caused by the
keeping of the kennel in the moat and ditches.
Stow, who in his youth appears to have known well the vicinity, details its
progressive occupation from the enclosed field, and the "homely cottages" of the
bed-ridden poor, there domiciled in poverty and sickness, yet recognized by the
priory of the Holy Trinity ; till there were built houses that rather wanted
room than rent, for the most part possessed by brokers and sellers of old
apparel. This was the London historian's description in 1598, at the close of
the sixteenth century ; but it soon became the resort of bad men, money-lenders,
who rendered it a villainous place of extortion, rascally cheating, and usury.
Glorious Ben, and other distinguished dramatists, players/ and poets, are in
their denouncements of these rapacious swarms irrefragable contemporary evidence
; nor can the bitter anathemas of Taylor the water poet have escaped the reader.
In his Brood of Cormorants, he sarcastically asks
" Was Houndsditch Houndsditch call'd, can any tell,
Before the brokers in that street did dwell?
No sure it was not, it hath got that name
From them, and since that time they thither came ;
And well it now may be call'd Houndsditch,
For there are hounds will give a vengeance twitch."
#633 SARY HIET AT WOLSAK A woolpack, in the field.
Rev. IN HOUNSDICH In the field, s. H.
#634 PHILLIP JEMMET A game-cock, in the field. '
Rev. GOLDEN . COCK . HVNDICH In the field, P. E. I.
#635 AT THE HAND AND PENN Hand holding pen, in field.
Rev. IN HOUNDSDITCH . 1653 In the field, M. A. T.
#636 RICHARD HOLBROUGH Hand holding pen, in the field.
Rev. IN HOUNDSDITCH . 1669 HIS HALF PENY.
#637 AT THE WHIT HORS IN A horse current, in the field.
Rev. HOUND DICH NEA ALGATE In the field, L. E. H.
#638 AT THE WHITE HORS A horse current, in the field.
Rev. IN HOUNESDICH . 1658 In the field, I. A. P.
Below the horse, on the obverse, is a small E; the mark of Thomas Rawlins, an
engraver of considerable excellence, and, before the civil wars, an officer in
the Tower Mint. When Parkhurst and Bushell were appointed masters of the mint
established at New Inn, Oxford, in February 1642-3, Rawlins at the same time was
constituted chief engraver ; but on the king's affairs becoming hopeless,
Rawlins fled to Paris. On his returning to England, his mark is found on the
town pieces of 1652, struck for the cities of Bristol and Oxford ; and there are
doubtless others to which he did not affix his initial. In 1658 his mark is
again distinguished on the Houndsditch and one or two other tokens. He was then
in extreme distress, as evidenced by a letter addressed by him, from " the Hole
in St. Martin's, Febru. 27, 1657-8," to John Evelyn, pathetically imploring his
aid.
"Sir: It is my misfortune since my coming into England, to rancounter many
misfortunes. I am now a prisoner*, and am resolved to make use of the Act for
Relief of Poore Prisoners, and only want money to sue out my Habeas Corpeas.
Sir, it is for God's sake I begg your charitye, and I shall returne it ether in
worke, in which, I thank God, I have much bettered my selfe since I had the
honor to see you at Parris, or in what quantity of money you shall be pleased to
furnish me with. Sir, I once more for Heaven's sake implore your assistance, to
him that writs him selfe, however distressed at this tyme,
" Yo r fai thrall and ever gratefull servant, THO : RAWLINS."
Evelyn, in his endorsement of the letter, described him as " an excellent
artist, but debash'd [debauch'd] fellow ;" nor is there the slightest inference
to be drawn that this urgent appeal was otherwise than unfavourably received.
The engraving of traders' irons was at best but precarious and un remunerative,
and although he is known to have competed for the proposed state farthings, to
displace those issued by traders and ale-house keepers, yet he was thoroughly
unsuccessful. The piece with Oliver's profile on the obverse, and having on the
reverse the attributes of the three kingdoms entwined on columns, inscribed THVS
VNTTED INVINCIBLE, and again issued in four or five varieties known as patterns,
were the productions of Thomas Rawlins. After the restoration of Charles the
Second, Rawlins's patent as chief engraver was but slightly recognized ; he
however worked in the mint on the official seals ; the money-dies being
supervised by younger, more energetic, and more skilfully practised hands. He
died in 1670.
* The " Hole in St. Martin's," where Rawlins intimated he was then a prisoner,
was one of the many cells called public prisons, which disgraced the metropolis
in the seventeenth century. Cromwell, in his war with the Dutch, crammed it with
prisoners ; and in October, 1653, the Dutch captains there confined addressed a
petition to General Monk, praying his good offices towards their liberation ; it
was dated "from the Prison in the Mewes," and from that appellation was possibly
a place of confinement created under the Stuarts; subsequently it became the
parish watch-house, of which there is an excessively rare print. It stood on the
east side of the Mews, the site being the now roadway in front of the east end
of the Royal Academy.
#639 WILLIAM ACTON AT YE A golden ball, in the field.
Rev. IN HOUNSDITCH . 1664 A pair of opened scissors.
#640 JOHN PALMER .IN An anchor, in the field.
Rev. HOUNSDICH . 1667 In the field, I. I. P.
Query, the Blue Anchor ? noticed in Seymour's otherwise Mottley's Swrvey of
London, 1734, vol. i. p. 371, as the boundary in that part of Bishopsgate ward.
#641 PETER ESSINGTON Rose and crown, P. E., in the field.
Rev. IN HOUNSDICH. 1668 his HALF PENY.
B1506. Obverse. JOHN . BARNES . COPER . AT . YE = A bull.
R. BLACK . BVLL . IN . HOUNSDICH = HIS HALFE PENNY. 1669.
B1507. Obverse. Giles . Bly . 1669 = Five bells and a hand-bell.
R. IN . HOUNSDITCH = HIS HALF PENY. G . B . B.
B1508. Obverse. Sarah . Clarke . 1668 = A pair of cropper’s shears.
R. IN . HOUNDITCH = HER HALF PENY.
B1510. Obverse. AT . THE . BELL . IN = A bell.
R. HVENSDECH . 1649 = I . A . G. 1/4
B1511. Obverse. Edmond . Goodale . at . ye = The King’s Arms.
R. IN . HOWNSDITCH = E . A . G. 1/4
B1512. Obverse. at . the . whit . hors . in = A horse galloping.
R. HOUNSDICH . NEA . AL . GATE = L . E . H. 1/4
B1514. Obverse. richard . holbrovgh = A hand holding a pen.
R. IN . HOUNDSDITCH . 1669 = HIS HALF PENY.
B1515. Obverse. Robert . hollis . at . ye . seven = Seven stars, and a hand
holding a pen.
R. STARRS . IN . HOUNS . DITCH = HIS HALF PENY. I
B1516. Obverse. Joh . Hudson . blackmors = A negro’s head.
R. IN . HOVNESDICH . 64 = I . E . H. 1/4
B1519. Obverse. John . langrish = A tallowchandler.
R. in . hownsditch = Two flowers between I . L. 1/4
B1520. Obverse. John . Merry . at . the = A beehive.
R. IN . HOUNSDITCH . 1663 = I . S . M. 1/4
B1521. Obverse. Thomas . Nettleton . at = A chandler.
R. in . piovnsditch = A woolpack. 1/4
B1522. Obverse. AT . Ye . Princes . ARMES = The Prince of Wales’s feathers.
R. IN . HOUNDES . DICH = E . H . P. 1/4
B1525. Obverse. ABRAM . PARRAT . BROWER = A raven.
R. IN . HOUNDICH . 1654 = A . I . P. 1/4
B1526. Obverse. William . Rawlins = Three horseshoes.
R. in . HOUNSDICH = A crooked billet. 1/4
B1527. Obverse. Samuell . Shakmapell = Three birds.
R. IN . HOUNDICH . 1660 = S . E . S. 1/4
B1528. Obverse. AT . THE . GOULDEN . LION = G . A . T.
R. in . hownds . ditch = A lion rampant. 1/4
B1529. Obverse. at . the . hand . and . pen = A hand holding a pen.
R. IN . HOUNDSDITCH . 1653 = M . A . T.
B1530. Obverse. at . the . sheers = A pair of shears.
R. IN . HOUNSDICH . l664 = W . M . T. 1/4
B1531. Obverse. Geo . Waples . ye . old . bunch = A bunch of grapes.
R. IN . HOUNSDICH = G . A . W. 1/4
B1532. Obverse. Tho : Webb . at . the . nags = A horse’s head. T . E . W.
R. HEAD . IN . HOUNSDITCH = HIS HALF PENY. 1669.
B1533. Obverse. Robert . Raven . in . Huggin = A raven.
R. LANE . HIS . HALFE . PENY = R . K . R. 1/2
B1534. Obverse. Anthony. Washburn . at . ye . in = The Feltmakers’ Arms.
R. HVGIN . LANE . NEAR . WOOD . STRET = HALF PENY. 1670.
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As ever I am appreciative of the archive.org site and google books for
showing old and non-copyright scripts which can be used for research (copied).