| Cornish coins and currency |
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Page 2 of 2 There are tokens and coin-like pieces from Cornwall that fall into no particular category, yet are immensely interesting. Two such items in my collection is a token for a Penzance bathing machine and a wreck service token.  Bathing machines at Newquay at the turn of the century. It is difficult for us today to imagine that the thought of sea bathing would create alarm and trepidation for the visitor to Cornwall. It was well into the 18th century before bathing became a way of life. We often see a telescope at some point on Cornish promenades or sea fronts to this day but few of us are aware of their history and few give it a thought that they are today being used for similar motives as they were in the 1800s. In 1873 Kelly’s Post Office Directory lists one bathing machine operator in Penzance. He was George Stevens of Cornwall Terrace. His bathing machines were located between the western end of the promenade and the Larrigan River. Only a few of the local people appear to have used them but visitors apparently made them a paying proposition. The 3d token shown is now all that survives of those halcyon days on the beach. Wreck service tokens were issued by the Board of Trade to people who gallantly assisted ships in peril. The Board of Trade supplied the life-saving rocket apparatus, a design originally devised by Henry Trengrouse of Helston, to HM Coastguard. The tokens were issued by the officer in charge of the HM Coastguard or volunteer in charge of the rocket apparatus at the scene of the wreck. When volunteers were enlisted as extra assistance each was given a token that was to be handed in when claiming payment. The rise of Cornish currency The world industrial revolution started in Cornwall and with it came problems not anticipated by large employers or the Government. Businesses now employed larger numbers than ever before and pay days were a problem; there were simply not enough coins in circulation. Some mines issued their own currency – five examples of Cornish pennies were struck in 1811 alone. One showed an engine house and whim on one side and a pilchard between four ingots of copper on the other. Another problem realised in Cornwall first was when the price of copper rose, people found that coins would be worth more when melted down. This again led to a shortage of coins and so tokens were introduced. When the value of copper fell, mine owners paid workers in tokens that could only be spent in shops or pubs that they owned thus reducing the cost of labour. However, the crash of Cornish mining eventually meant that ‘mine company currency’ was as worthless as the company that produced it. |
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