Parys Mine Company 1787 copper Penny, Anglesey

18^th Century Token, Anglesey, Parys Mine Company, copper Penny, druidic hooded bearded head left, thick oak wreath surrounding, two acorns at ties at bottom, four inner leaves over head, rev. struck en medaille, PMCo monogram, date above with curved 7s, latter 7 nearer and below W of legend surrounding, . WE PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ONE PENNY, edge with incuse letters, ON DEMAND IN LONDON LIVERPOOL OR ANGLESEY .xx., weight 28.87g (D&H 31). Toned with some lustre and brilliance, hairline raised die flaw in monogram on reverse, good extremely fine.

The first writer on 18^th Century tradesman token Charles Pye stated that the Anglesey Mines produced enough copper to strike 250 tons of such pennies as these. Tryselwyn Mountain in Anglesey was where on the 2^nd March 1768 a rich vein of copper was first discovered and though quickly waterlogged, the massive deposit was eventually mined with the ingenuity of the quickly formed Parys Mine Company a consortium of Macclesfield businessmen led by silk manufacturer Charles Roe. The other names involved were Robert Hodson, Brian Hodson, Roland Atkinson, Joseph Stockdale, John Walker and Cookson Atkinson. The Company was named after Robert Parys who was the Chamberlain of North Wales in the time of King Henry IV and had lived locally purportedly in the oldest house in Madyn. The dies for the coinage of tokens were prepared by Royal Mint engraver John Milton which were then sent to Birmingham to a Mint set up by the Parys Mine Company under the charge of John Westwood who struck the tokens.