THE END OF PAIN - Museum Gallery

One could write a whole volume on the political tokens of Great Britain, just after the American Revolution and during the French Revolution. I have several presented here that are related, for example see "Pigs Meat", where the name of Thomas Paine is also mentioned. Here Mr. Paine is alluded to as PAIN, hanging from gibbet. In the background stands a church with British flag waving. Compare this to "Pigs Meat" where the pig tramples symbols of the church and state. Clearly the periods' historic battle between loyal Royalists and revolutionaries presented in metal token coinage.
Middlesex, Spence's DH 833a (struck on small planchet)
The inscription the END OF PAIN is a pun on Thomas Paine’s name. He was a radical who was hated by most Englishmen of the 1790’s. The obverse portrayal of Paine’s end would be welcome by all loyal subjects. The reverse inscription is derived from Paine’s book entitled The Rights of Man, which was published in 1791. January 21, 1793, on the right page of the book, is the date that King Louis XVI of France was executed. The implication is that Paine’s ideas contributed to Louis’ death and would do the same for the English king.
While listed under Spence’s works by Dalton and Hamer, it is clear that Thomas Spence was a revolutionary and would not have created this token. The royalist sentiment suggested by this token clearly indicates that Spence was not responsible for its design. It is much more likely to have been made by loyalists who wanted to capitalize on anti-radical fervor in those times. There were riots in 1791 in Birmingham and anti-Paine tokens were produced as a result. Researchers believe that Peter Skidmore was responsible for the piece despite its earlier attribution to Spence. Since Thomas Paine lived in the USA, where his book "Common Sense" contributed to the growing movement for independence from England, he was venerated here and well as in France where he defended the French Revolution against Burke and helped the French cause as well.
Conder tokens, also known as 18th Century Provincial Tokens are a form of privately minted token coinage struck and used during the latter part of the 18th Century and the early part of the 19th Century in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. They were made because of the need for small denomination coinage for everyday transactions. Because the government did little to relieve the coinage shortage, private businesses and merchants issued tokens beginning in 1787 to pay workers at the Parys Mine Company. Within a few years, millions of tokens were struck and were in common use throughout Great Britain. Comprised mostly of cent and half cent denominations, the Conders had a few thousand varying designs. Collecting tokens became a national pastime. They were originally indexed by James Conder and later by Dalton and Hamer in their book, The Provincial Token Coinage of the 18th Century. This it a plain edge variety.
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Here's a fine article on Thomas Paine (or Pain?) and the series of Conder Tokens with Paine on his gibbet, available in the Moneta Library at this: [ link ]