1 Farthing Norfolk - Norwich / G Bagshaw (1851)
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1851 |
| Denomination | 1 Farthing |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Circulation | Non-circulating |
| Composition | Copper |
| Weight | 3.700g |
| Diameter | 22.0mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
A goose standing facing left at the river bank, plants either side.
A hare, pheasant, and other birds amongst bushes.
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Daily limit reachedAbout the 1851 1 Farthing Norfolk - Norwich / G Bagshaw
The 1851 1 Farthing Norfolk - Norwich / G Bagshaw is a collector 1 farthing coin, struck in copper. It weighs 3.7g and measures 22mm across. Reverse design: A hare, pheasant, and other birds amongst bushes.
Common questions
How much is the 1851 1 Farthing Norfolk - Norwich / G Bagshaw worth?
No verified sale of the 1851 1 Farthing Norfolk - Norwich / G Bagshaw has been logged on MyCoinage yet.
Is the G. Bagshaw Norwich farthing a real coin?
No. It is a private token dated 1851 for G. Bagshaw, a licensed game dealer in Norwich. It is the size of a farthing but was not made or issued by the Royal Mint and was never legal tender.
Is the Bagshaw token English or American?
English. Russell Rulau's catalogue of United States tokens once placed a similar T. Parker Norwich piece in Norwich, Connecticut. In 2016 collectors writing in The E-Sylum showed that Bagshaw and Parker both appear as fishmongers in an 1854 Norfolk directory.
Is the G. Bagshaw farthing rare?
No. The token specialist David Powell describes both the Bagshaw and the Parker Norwich pieces as quite common, and places them in a group of about 15 to 20 similarly dated Norwich tokens. No mintage figure is recorded.
Who was G. Bagshaw?
The token calls him a licensed dealer in game in Norwich. Francis White's 1854 directory of Norfolk, cited in The E-Sylum, lists G. Bagshaw as a fishmonger. The Withers' Token Book 2 carries further background on him.
How do I identify the 1851 1 Farthing Norfolk - Norwich / G Bagshaw?
Check the weight 3.7g and diameter 22mm and the metal (copper) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
Victorian shopkeepers often had small pieces struck in the size of the farthing. The Canadian Token Collectors Club archive describes these unofficial farthings as made mainly for merchants between 1837 and 1870 and used both as advertising and as small change where needed. They were never official coins.
This token names G. Bagshaw of Norwich, a licensed dealer in game, and is dated 1851. Francis White's 1854 directory of Norfolk lists him as a fishmonger, as reported in The E-Sylum. Norfolk Museums Service holds two examples that were given to the collection in May 1852, within a year of the date on the token. No mintage is recorded.
Norfolk Museums Service records the obverse inscription as G BAGSHAW NORWICH and the reverse as a statement that he was a licensed dealer in game. The Leamington Spa museum, which holds a copper example, describes a duck on the obverse and a rabbit with game on the reverse; other catalogues describe the bird as a goose. Both pictures advertise what a game dealer sold. The maker is not recorded.
Varieties and errors
Museum records spell the reverse wording two ways, LICENCED and LICENSED, and one gives DEALERS rather than DEALER. Whether these are true die varieties or transcription differences has not been established.
Collecting notes
The piece has a small place in numismatic literature because Russell Rulau's Standard Catalog of United States Tokens moved a similar T. Parker Norwich token to Norwich, Connecticut. In 2016 Mark Borckardt, David Powell and Paul Withers set out the evidence in The E-Sylum that the Parker and Bagshaw tokens are English. Powell describes both as quite common and part of a group of about 15 to 20 similarly dated Norwich pieces.
The standard references are R. C. Bell's Unofficial Farthings with its 1994 supplement and the Withers' The Token Book 2, which Powell says gives background on both issuers.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- Token, two post-medieval tokens of G. Bagshaw of Norwich, dated 1851 (NWHCM 1852.46), Norfolk Museums Service, via Museum Data Service (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Token, copper alloy token, G BAGSHAW NORWICH (NWHCM 1997.70), Norfolk Museums Service, via Museum Data Service (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Copper token, G. Bagshaw game dealer, 1851 (LEAMG:M995.1926.242), Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 10 Oct 2026)
- T. Parker Norwich token attributed to England (The E-Sylum, vol. 19 no. 7, article 21), Numismatic Bibliomania Society (read 10 Oct 2026)
- More on the Parker and Bagshaw Norwich tokens (The E-Sylum, vol. 19 no. 8, article 17), Numismatic Bibliomania Society (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Token, two 19th century game dealers tokens, Norwich, 1851 (NWHCM 1998.430), Norfolk Museums Service, via Museum Data Service (read 10 Oct 2026)
- 19th Century English Unofficial Farthings 1838-1870: Introduction, Canadian Token Collectors Club (Bill McKivor archive) (read 10 Oct 2026)
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