The Soap Box

John Bromley issued this trade token, worth a half penny, for his business near York House, in the Strand, Middlesex.

Boyne & Williamson (1889) reference London number 2956; Obv inscription: IOHN. BROMLEY. IN. YE. STRAND (around field, in Roman capitals) Device = A soap-box (in field); Rev inscription: NEARE.YORKE.HOVSE.1666 (around field, in Roman capitals) Device = HIS / HALF / PENY (in three lines of Roman capitals, in field).

See also token number 9069 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. York House was one of a number of mansions that ran along the Strand, it was originally the town of the Bishops of York, see Gater,G. H. & Wheeler, E. P. (Eds.), Survey of London: Volume 18: St Martin-in-the-Fields II: The Strand (London, 1937, p.51). The Strand lies in the City of Westminster, having formerly been part of Westminster, Middlesex.