The Gridiron

John Parson issued this trade token, worth a half penny, for his business in Shoreditch, Middlesex. The gridiron depicted on the token, is a type of grill used for cooking meat and other food over the fire.

Boyne & Williamson (1889) reference London number 2828; Obv inscription: IOHN.PARSON (around field, in Roman capitals) Device = HIS / HALF / PENY (in three lines of Roman capitals, in field); Rev inscription : IN.SHOREDICH.1668 (around field, in Roman capitals) Device = A gridiron (in field).

See also token number 8159 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. Shoreditch, now Shoreditch High Street, lay in the parish of St Leonard Shoreditch, in Holborn, Middlesex; the area is now part of the London Borough of Hackney.