Evasion tokens were in use from about 1771, most were made between 1795 and 1798 .Again small change was desperately needed for everyday transactions and human ingenuity is always prepared to meet a need- at a profit! Counterfeitting was practiced but strictly illegal and harshly punished. An alternative was the Evasion series of tokens , also called Imitation Regal Coinage. These were light weight copies of genuine coins but with nonsense legends like "GEORGE RULES" , "BRUTUS SEXTUS" , or "CLAUDIUS ROMANUS" on the obverse and "BONNI FACE" , "BRITISH TARS" , or "BRITIANS ISLES" on the reverse. This "evaded" the counterfeitting laws and, since most people were illiterate the tokens circulated freely. It was estimated at the time that travelling the toll roads one could expect that 2/3 of coins received in change to be counterfeit! The Evasion tokens were often made with shallow dies so they would appear accepted in circulation. Hundreds of varieties exist and a decent common specimen will cost $15-20 or so. [Thanks to Cobwright for his input]
The standard references for these are THE TRADESMEN'S TOKENS OF THE 18TH CENTURY by Atkins and EVASIVES 1993 by Cobwright. Atkins is long out of print, the Cobwright book is available from
Cobwright or Bill McKivor. The Seaby books listed on my 17th Century page are useful for this series. A most knowledgeable dealer for these, and British tokens in general, is Bill McKivor
Cobwright or Bill McKivor. The Seaby books listed on my 17th Century page are useful for this series. A most knowledgeable dealer for these, and British tokens in general, is Bill McKivor
