Token, market token

This figure-of-eight copper token was issued for P. C. Hegerty & Co, a wholesaler on Southwark Street, for use at Borough Market. It was made by the prolific tally-maker R. Neal of Percival Street, EC. The small H-shaped hole punched through the token helped identify the firm, and likely the token's value too - this one was worth one shilling.

From around 1880, London's wholesale markets relied on tokens - or tallies - to manage deposits on the sturdy wooden boxes used by wholesalers for fruit, vegetables and fish. P C Hegerty & Co was reported as dissolved in the London Gazette on 18 April 1902, helping us date this token more precisely.

A buyer paid a deposit and received a matching token; the deposit was refunded only when both the box and the token were returned. This reduced theft and fraud in busy markets. The sheer number of markets using this system in London led to a remarkable vareity of shapes, metals, and cut-outs. Market tokens were mainly used between 1880 and 1920, but some continued in use until the introduction of VAT in the 1970s, when deposits themselves became taxable.