(Jun 28, 2017)
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| Obverse | Shield of arms of the Sargeant family consisting of three elaborate dolphins crested by an arm holding a javelin with legend: “PORTSEA HALFPENNY 1794” | | Reverse | View of warship with one row of gun ports and no stern lantern, sailing to right, with sprigs of leaves beneath and legend: “PAYABLE”, top of mast to left of left limb of “A” | | Edge inscription | “AT GEORGE EDWARD SARGEANTS PORTSEA”, the rest engrailed | Edge inscription “AT GEORGE EDWARD SARGEANTS PORTSEA”, the rest engrailed
In Great Britain, a shortage of small denomination coinage had been reported as early as the late 14th century
For many years, no copper or silver coins were minted at all, and in 1775 King George III had halted the production of copper coinage at the Royal Mint
[13] These first tokens bore the image of a hooded Druid, and within two months time were receiving attention in London as a possible solution to the shortage of small denomination coin
[14] Not long after the appearance of the Druid tokens, other cities, businesses, and proprietors would follow suit and begin designing and minting their own small denomination coinage
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