Father Coinmas has come early this year, and he has brought his nichest gift yet – a brand new article on the tokens of ‘E. Brewer Claines’ in the Bulletin of the Token Corresponding Society.

Token of E. Brewer of Claines (Image © Murray Andrews)

These tokens turn up pretty often on the coin trade – so frequently, in fact, that nearly 750 of the things were sold in a single lot just a couple of years ago. But despite this, there’s never really been any research into who ‘E. Brewer’ was, and when and why they had these tokens made. My article identifies ‘E. Brewer’ as Edwin Tomes Brewer (1872-1936), an Evesham-born greengrocer and market gardener, and suggests that they were used as tallies to monitor piece-work out in his fields.

So if you fancy a dive into the world of tokens and tallies in early 20th-century England, why not give it a read? To purchase a copy, get in touch with the Society via their website.

For a full list of my publications to date, check out the ‘Publications’ page on this website.