The Woodmongers' Arms

Raymond Gilis, a woodmonger (wood seller), issued this trade token, worth a farthing, for his business in Bridewell Dock (area near Bride Lane).

Boyne & Williamson (1889) reference London number 426; Obv inscription: GILIS.RAY.WOODMONG (around field, in Roman capitals) Device = The Woodmongers' arms (in field); Rev inscription: AT.BRID.WELL.DOCKE (around field, in Roman capitals) Device = G.I.R. (triad of initials in Roman capitals, in field).

The existence of wood trading business at wharfs and docks seem to be typical of the time, this being where timber was imported to, but also used, for industries such as shipbuilding; there are other examples in the museum collection, such as 96.66/246. The arms of the Worshipful Company of Woodmongers are: A sword erect point upwards in pale proper Pomel and Hilt Gules between two Cart Wheels in fesse of the last (J. Bromley, The Armorial Bearings of the Guilds of London: a record of the heraldry of the surviving companies with historical notes; with...[illustrations] by Heather Child...(London, 1960). See also token number 6710 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. Bridewell was a precinct between Bride Lane and the River Thames, which included a dock. Bridewell Dock lies in the ward of Farringdon Without, in the City of London.