The Turk's Head Coffee House

This trade token, worth a penny or half penny, was issued for Ward's coffee house in Bread Street, Bread Street Ward, City of London. The depiction of a Turk's head and the inclusion of the name Solyman, is a reference to the Turkish emperor Solyman, and the Turkish coffee sold at the premises.

Boyne & Williamson (1889) reference London number 407; Obv inscription: Solyman (in cursive script, in field) Device = A Turk's head (in field); Rev inscription: Ward's / Coffee house / in Bread / Street / 1671 (in five lines of cursive script, in field).

There is another similar token in the museum collection, A9643. See also token numbers 6696a and 6696b in the Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 59, The Norweb Collection: Tokens of the British Isles 1575-1750, Part VII - City of London and, Bryant Lillywhite, London Coffee Houses, 1963 No. 1415 and No. 1488 citing Boyne (1858) London No. 329. There is also an example of this token in the British Museum's collection.