Token, convict token

Smoothed coins engraved with a message of affection were gifted to loved ones by convicts awaiting execution and transportation. Convicts often paid fellow prisoners skilled in metalwork to engrave the messages and many included stippled decoration. These mementoes of affection were often known as 'leaden hearts'.
On one side is the name of the convict, Thomas Spicer, who was 'Cast for Death' by public execution on January 17th 1818. Spicer appeared at the Old Bailey along with William Kelly on a 'coining' charge. The pair were accused and found guilty of counterfeiting bank notes with 'intent to defraud the Governor and Company of the Bank of England'. They were arrested by Bow Street Runners in the Seven Dials area. Spicer was aged 17 and Kelly was 15.
Forging currency was a felony and both Kelly and Spicer were sentenced to death. Spicer's charge was commuted to 14 years' transportation, probably owing to his age. He arrived in New South Wales on the Morley on 7 November 1818. His sentence was then further reduced and he was allowed to return to England in 1825.

The 1836 Prison Inspector reports from Newgate Gaol describe how ‘prisoners amused themselves by smoking, walking about and talking, grinding down halfpence and cutting them into the shape of hearts to give to their friends’. An interview with 18 year old ‘I.K’, convicted of burglary, reported that ‘the prisoners amused themselves here [the condemned cells] by making leaden hearts, and grinding the impressions off penny pieces, then pricking figures or words on them, to give to their friends as memorials’. Tools and coins were brought into Newgate by friends and family. Some were made by ‘professionals’ – other prisoners proficient in engraving through their trades. Prisoners may also have learnt how to make them from each other during their long hours in the condemned cell awaiting their fate. Facing the prospect of permanent separation from loved ones, either by execution or exile, tokens were a way of the poor creating memorials to themselves, their hopes and their fears for the future.

This token was made using a 'cartwheel' penny coin. Low denomination coins were commonly used to manufacture tokens owing to their large size which allowed room for more elaborate designs. Copper coins were also ideal because the soft metal was easier to smooth and engrave.