The Eagle and Crown

Trade tokens were used as small change at a time when there were few low denomination coins, which made it difficult to make small purchases. They were issued by businesses like pubs and coffee houses. Trade tokens can be used to trace the movement of businesses after the Great Fire of London as their inscriptions include the names of the owners and from where they operated. This token was issued by John Eldridge from a pub called the Eagle and Crown on Drury Lane (this area escaped the fire). Before the fire he had lived at Billingsgate in the City. The inscription reads:

Obverse: IOHN.ELDRIDGE.AT.THE [depiction of an eagle and a crown]
Reverse: IN.DREWRY.LANE.1667 HIS HALF PENY

After the fire the City authorities were very worried that people would move away permanently and the City would suffer an economic collapse. Fortunately, though many people never returned, others came in their place and business gradually resumed.