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<DATE>2014-11-12</DATE>
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<NAME>TCP Staff (Michigan)</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140723.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A70971">
<STC T="W">R955</STC>
<STC T="C">R18205</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">11937148</BIBNO>
<VID>51213</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A REMEDIE AGAINST The lo&s;&s;e of the Subject, BY Farthing-Tokens: DISCOVERING The great abu&s;es of them heretofore: and the Prevention of the like hereafter:</P>
<P>By making them of &s;uch a weight as may countervaile their worth in current Coyne:</P>
<P><HI>AND Propo&s;ing a &s;atisfactorie way for the Exchange of tho&s;e that are already di&s;per&s;ed abroad.</HI></P>
<P>With &s;ome u&s;efull Cautions touching the receipt of certaine forraigne Coyne.</P>
<P><HI>Publi&s;hed for the good of the Commonwealth in generall, but more e&s;pecially of the poorer &s;ort.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Thomas Bates,</HI> at the Maidenhead on Snow-hill, neere Holborne Conduit. 1644.</P>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>A Remedy again&s;t the lo&s;&s;e of the Subject by FARTHING-TOKENS.</HEAD>
<P>_IT is not needfull to make a long relation what inconve|niences and mi&s;chiefe other Countries and Kingdomes have &s;u&s;tained by copper coyne, which was current for more then its ju&s;t value or worth: e&s;pecially of late in Spaine, which many of our Merchants, trading in tho&s;e parts, can ju&s;tifie. That practice of bringing up cop|per coyne was al&s;o projected here in England, and if it had gone for|ward, it would have been the greate&s;t mi&s;chief that ever was contrived to undoe this Kingdome: For, in a few yeares all our good Gold and Silver coyne would have been tran&s;ported out of the Kingdome, and copper coyne would have been brought in out of all parts of Chri|&s;tendome, and &s;o all our Gold and Silver would have been turned into copper: but thorow Gods mercy, and the care of wi&s;e under&s;tanding State&s;men, it proved abortive.</P>
<P>Now to come to our Farthing-tokens: the very name of them is not the name of any lawfull coyne or money, but onely a token, or an ac|knowledgment, that the partie which payes it out, gives it onely as a token (becau&s;e he cannot otherwi&s;e change his money, for want of &s;mall money or coyne) to be ready and willing at all times to take it a|gaine: and therefore in former times, when &s;mall coyne began to fail, divers retailing Trade&s;men, to accommodate their Cu&s;tomers in chan|ging their money, did make Tokens of tin and lead, and gave them for change, and were alwayes ready, and obliged to take them againe when&s;oever they were brought to them: In this there was no great hurt, nor was it any wayes oppre&s;&s;ing to the Subject; onely now and then there were &s;ome of the&s;e Tokens lo&s;t, and that produced &s;ome ad|vantage to the makers. Now this was &s;oone e&s;pied by our Projectors, (otherwayes the very Caterpillers of this Kingdome) who upon pre|tence
<PB N="2" REF="3">for the good of the Subject, and the good of the poore (a plea|&s;ing Rhetorick in the eares of many) did &s;oon obtain a Patent to make Farthing-tokens by Authority, with the Kings Stamp, no more of tin or lead, but of copper; and no more a &s;hillings worth, as others for|merly had done, onely for change, but hundred pounds, nay thou&s;and pounds worth: and to pre&s;&s;e them upon the people, many wayes were u&s;ed: &s;ome Merchants would &s;ell unvendable commodities to the Pa|tentees, to be paid in Farthing-tokens: and then the Merchant, or buyer of the&s;e Tokens, to rid his hands of them, mu&s;t pre&s;&s;e them up|on his Workmen, Labourers, and others whom he deales withall, and &s;o in a &s;hort time every Chandler, Baker, Victualler, and other &s;uch re|tailing people, had their hands full of them. The profit for the ma|kers of them was &s;o great, as never was known the like: they could make out of an ounce of copper, which co&s;t them not a full penny, the quantity of twenty pence in Tokens. This extraordinary pre&s;&s;ing, extorting profit could not hold long, but other more eminent Per&s;ons mu&s;t have a &s;hare, and &s;o the fir&s;t makers were di&s;mi&s;t, and their Patent di&s;anulled, and then all the Tokens were left upon the Subjects hands, and &s;o the poore Subjects were meerly cheated with their Tokens, and were forced to &s;ell them to Bra&s;iers at 10. pence, or 12. pence the pound weight: no redre&s;&s;e again&s;t tho&s;e Tokens could be had; for, they had a Patent to make and di&s;tribute them, but the poore Subject had no Patent to force the Makers to take them againe. Was not this for the good of the Subject?</P>
<P>The next Token-makers we all know who they were, the publike Farthing-token Offices in London do witne&s;&s;e it: and this was done with a more large Patent, and more regulated for the profit of the Ma|kers: they had their Officers to attend the &s;ale of them daily, and had a pretty way to vent them, in giving one &s;hilling over in twenty to tho&s;e who came to buy them: this was &s;o inticing to many covetous wretches, who made a common practice to fetch them daily, and force them upon all &s;orts of people whom they had any dealing withall, and &s;o pre&s;&s;e 5, 10, yea 20. &s;h. at a time away: which was the cau&s;e that in a &s;hort time there was an infinite quantity of Farthing-tokens made
<PB N="3" REF="3">and di&s;per&s;ed abroad, to the exce&s;&s;ive profit of the makers, but the ex|ce&s;&s;ive lo&s;&s;e of the takers, as very &s;hortly after did appeare: for, this ex|ce&s;&s;ive profit did intice many who had no Patent to be al&s;o Farthing-makers: but the&s;e poore &s;neakes were &s;oon brought to the Pillorie for cheating the Kings Subjects, although they made their Tokens of as good metall, and as weighty as the Patentees did: the&s;e poor fellowes cheated by retaile, but the Patentees &s;old by whole &s;ale, therefore no cheating. But when in a &s;hort time not onely the City of London was mightily pe&s;tered with them, but al&s;o the whole Kingdome, and e&s;pe|cially the adjacent Counties of Kent, E&s;&s;ex, Suffolke, and Norfolke, who were &s;o burdened with them, that in many townes and places there was almo&s;t no Silver or Gold coyne left, but all was Farthing-tokens. And whereas the Patentees Officers were daily attending in the Office to &s;ell <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">arthings, &s;o they would al&s;o take in Farthings from tho&s;e who brought them, at the &s;ame rate as they &s;old them: the re|tailers, Bakers, Butchers, Chandlers, Victuallers, and other &s;uch &s;ort of people were they who brought them in, to their great lo&s;&s;e: but at la&s;t the poore mu&s;t pay for all: for, the Victualler, Baker, &amp;c. mu&s;t &s;ell the dearer, to get up his lo&s;&s;e by the Tokens. But when Farthings be|gan to come in more then went out, the Patentees did not like it, but a remedy was &s;oon devi&s;ed, and that was, that none were theirs but double-ringed Farthings, and &s;o would take in none but double rings; a pretty device to draw their necks out of the collar: for very few Tokens were found with double rings, mo&s;t did prove &s;ingle rings, and none of theirs: who could prove the contrary? and &s;o upon a &s;udden all Farthings, both double and &s;ingle rings (only a few excep|ted) were left upon the Subjects hands: this was the &s;econd cheat, and a very grievous one; for it pre&s;t very &s;ore upon many, it cau&s;ed many teares to be &s;hed by many poore women, and children, who l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t all they had, as by many examples then were &s;een: for many poore wo|men who got their living with &s;elling of Fruit, Herbs, Fi&s;h, and other commodities, had all their &s;tock in Farthings; &s;ome 6, 8, 10, to 20. &s;hil|lings: this poor &s;tock did maintaine them and their children, but up|on a &s;udden this was all lo&s;t, to their utter undoing: Trade&s;men of a
<PB N="4" REF="4">higher degree in many places had at that time 10, 20, 40. yea &s;ome had 60. pounds worth of tokens in their hands, and almo&s;t all proved cleer lo&s;&s;e, for the tenth part did not prove double rings: it was conceived that at that time there was no le&s;&s;e then the value of one hundred thou|&s;and pound in Farthings di&s;per&s;t throughout the whole Kingdom, and that was all lo&s;t (the copper excepted) and no remedy could be had a|gain&s;t the Farthing-makers, who in con&s;cience, equity, and ju&s;tice were obliged to take them againe. This was the lamentable i&s;&s;ue of making Farthing-tokens for the good of the Subject.</P>
<P>But the&s;e pretenders, who doe all for the good of the Subject, would by no meanes for&s;ake that exce&s;&s;ive profit, but contrived ano|ther &s;ort of Tokens that none &s;hould bee able to counterfeit, as they pretended; and that was with a little yellow &s;pot in the copper, a good marke to know their owne, but a better marke to make another cheat of one hundred thou&s;and pounds more, upon the poore Subject, but all for their good, as is pretended: this hath gone on certain years; but at fir&s;t, becau&s;e that great lo&s;&s;e did lie yet &s;o heavy upon many, and &s;o fre&s;h in memorie of all; they could not vent &s;o many as they had expected: In the meane time this now &s;itting Parliament began, and pre&s;ently all Patents were put downe, becau&s;e they were illegall, and pre&s;&s;ing to the Subject: But (to the great admiration of many) this &s;o illegall, and pre&s;&s;ing a Patent, did &s;tand upright in its full power: when they perceived they were not que&s;tioned, they went on cheer|fully, and began to u&s;e &s;everall meanes to vent their Tokens, and a|mong&s;t other devices, they u&s;ed many poore women, as their Factors, to goe about the Citie, and Suburbs, and all other places, where any re&s;ort of people was, and there would by intreaty, and importunate begging, get and per&s;wade many to change them &s;ix pence in To|kens for Silver, which of late hath di&s;per&s;ed an infinite quantity of Tokens; by which meanes the Tokens are become &s;o plenty, that e|very retailing Trade&s;man is &s;o pe&s;tered therewith, that almo&s;t half of what they receive is Farthing-Tokens; and all adjacent Counties are become &s;o full of them, nay more then ever they were before: &s;o that of nece&s;&s;ity the&s;e Tokens mu&s;t goe downe againe, which will prove a
<PB N="5" REF="4">greater lo&s;&s;e then tho&s;e formerly; except the Authority of this <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> nourable Parliament doth compel the Token-makers to attend at their Office, with ready money, to take in and exchange to the Subject all their Tokens for good current money, as in con&s;cience and equity the Token-makers ought to doe, or el&s;e it will prove a very great lo&s;&s;e to the Subject.</P>
<P>Now to come to the nece&s;&s;ity of them; it is very true that Farthings are u&s;efull and nece&s;&s;arie, both for rich and poore, we cannot well bee without them; and for to make them of Silver it would bee too &s;mall a coyne, and very un&s;erviceable, as by experience we find of our half|pence, who are &s;o &s;mall and thin, that many cannot feele them be|tween their fingers: therefore we ought to have Farthings either of copper, or el&s;e &s;ome metall mixt with copper, and ought to bee &s;o much in value as may be worth a Farthing, in the &s;ame nature of other lawfull coyne: all copper without any mixture is like to be be&s;t, to prevent counterfeiting of them: for it is certaine, if Farthings be &s;o weighty and &s;o big, that with the coyning and other charges they co&s;t a Farthing, we are &s;ure none &s;hall be counterfeited, nor brought in from forraigne parts: for it was the great profit that made the increa&s;e. In France they have copper coyne, they call Deniers, they have twelve to a Sous, or a penny, &s;terling, they are very neat and hand&s;ome, and very u&s;efull, and are as heavy as three of our Tokens, or thereabout: and in Holland they have copper coyne eight to a Stiver or Penny &s;terling; they are as big as four of our Farthing-Tokens, and &s;o it is in all parts of Germany, Denmarke, Swedeland, &amp;c. where they have copper coyne, but all as valuable as Silver or Gold coyne, and is as good to the people as either Silver or Gold coyne, and is no wayes oppre&s;&s;ing, nor burthen&s;ome to the people; but to the contrarie, very commodious: therefore we ought to make our Farthings worth a Far|thing, that the Subject may be no more deceived with unlawfull To|kens, but may have lawfull Farthings; which will be very u&s;efull and beneficiall to all Trade&s;men, and e&s;pecially retailers of all &s;orts, and very comfortable to the poore people. But if we goe on in making Farthings or Tokens of le&s;&s;e value then a Farthing, and if there can be
<PB N="6" REF="5">any thing gotten by counterfeiting them, let us be as carefull as po&s;&s;i|ble we may, there will be alwayes found &s;ome or other that will ven|ture to make them either here at home, or els in forraigne parts, and will bring them in by &s;tealth, although there be never &s;o &s;trict &s;earch|ing; and it will prove at la&s;t very hurtfull to the Subject: al&s;o it is the Subjects due to have their money the full worth they receive it for, and &s;o a Farthing mu&s;t be as well worth a Farthing, as a Shilling is worth a Shilling: it is al&s;o the honour of a Kingdome to have it &s;o: there will need no extraordinary quantity to be coyned, but only now and then, when there is little work at the Mint, to make or coyne &s;ome, and to let all have them who will come for them, for changing money. And thus much concerning Farthings.</P>
<P>Another, of no le&s;&s;e, but more danger, there is of forraigne coyne, but it concernes mo&s;t our Sea-coa&s;t of Kent, Su&s;&s;ex, Hamp&s;hire, and generally all the We&s;t Countrey, and this is divers &s;orts of forraigne coyne, which the people thorow ignorance take, much above its value: as divers &s;orts of Dollers, which are two pence a piece wor&s;e then the right &s;ort of Rixdollers: al&s;o a &s;ort of Spani&s;h money commonly cal|led Peeces of Eight, which go current at foure &s;hillings and four pence among&s;t them: it is true, the right &s;ort, or the Sivill coyne, are worth &s;o much: but among&s;t the&s;e are very many which are very light, and want much of their weight: al&s;o a &s;ort of coyne which is much wor&s;e then the Sivill coyne, at lea&s;t foure pence a piece, and of all this no notice taken by the Subject; which if not timely prevented, we &s;hall have a multitude of them brought in, and in&s;tead of bringing them to the Mint to reduce them to our owne coyne and value, they will bee pre&s;t upon the Subject, to their great prejudice. Al&s;o there is already a multitude of French Sous, and daily more come in, and goe current at a penny, and are worth little more then three Farthings, which al&s;o ought to bee prevented: that every one may receive his money to the full value; as it is every one his duty to give weight and mea&s;ure in o|ther commodities, &s;o it is the like in all money and coyne.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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