The Coopers' Arms

William Paplar issued this trade token, worth a half penny, for his business at the sign of the Coopers' arms, on Saffron Hill, Middlesex.

Boyne & Williamson (1889) reference London number 2443A; Obv inscription: WILLIAM.PAPLAR.AT.THE (around field, in Roman capitals) Device = The Coopers' arms (in field); Rev inscription: ON.SAFFRON.HILL.HIS.HALPENY (around field, in Roman capitals) Device = W...P. (triad of initials in Roman capitals, in field).

The arms of the Worshipful Company of Coopers are: Gyronny of eight gules and sable, on a chevron between three annulets or a royne between two broad axes azure, a chief vert thereon three lilies argent (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). The middle initial in the triad has been identified as being an 'E', from other exampleof the token, see token number 8112 in the Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 62, The Norweb Collection: Tokens of the British Isles 1575-1750, Part VIII - Middlesex and Uncertain Pieces. Saffron Hill runs south of Clerkenwell Road, in the London Borough of Camden, having formerly been part of Holborn, Middlesex.