George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg ("Hanover") in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, but unlike his two predecessors he was born in Britain, spoke English as his first language and never visited Hanover.

His life and reign, which were longer than any other British monarch before him, were marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdoms, much of the rest of Europe, and places farther afield in Africa, the Americas and Asia. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britain's American colonies were soon lost in the American Revolutionary War. Further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

In the later part of his life, George III had recurrent, and eventually permanent, mental illness. Although it has since been suggested that he had the blood disease porphyria, the cause of his illness remains unknown. After a final relapse in 1810, a regency was established, and George III's eldest son, George, Prince of Wales, ruled as Prince Regent. On George III's death, the Prince Regent succeeded his father as George IV.

Historical analysis of George III's life has gone through a "kaleidoscope of changing views" that have depended heavily on the prejudices of his biographers and the sources available to them. Until re-assessment occurred during the second half of the twentieth century, his reputation in the United States was one of a tyrant and in Britain he became "the scapegoat for the failure of imperialism".

In numismatics, token coins or trade tokens are coin-like objects used instead of coins. The field of token coins is part of exonumia and token coins are token money. Their denomination is shown or implied by size, color or shape. They are often made of cheaper metals like copper, pewter, aluminium, brass and tin, or non-metals like bakelite, leather and porcelain.

A legal tender coin is issued by a governmental authority and is freely exchangeable for goods. A token coin has a narrower utility and is issued by a private entity. In many instances, token coins have become obsolete due to the use of cash, payment cards, stored value cards or other electronic transactions.

Coin-like objects from the Roman Empire called spintriae have been interpreted as an early form of token. Their functions are not documented, but they appear to have been brothel tokens or possibly gaming tokens.

Medieval English monasteries issued tokens to pay for services from outsiders. These tokens circulated in nearby villages, where they were called "Abbot's money". Also, counters called jetons were used as small change without official blessing.

From the 17th to the early 19th century in the British Isles (and also elsewhere in the British Empire) and North America, tokens were commonly issued by merchants in times of acute shortage of coins of the state. These tokens were in effect a pledge redeemable in goods, but not necessarily for currency. These tokens never received official sanction from government but were accepted and circulated quite widely.

In England, the production of copper farthings was permitted by royal licence in the first few decades of the 17th century, but production ceased during the English Civil War and a great shortage of small change resulted. This shortage was felt more keenly because of the rapid growth of trade in the towns and cities, and this in turn prompted both local authorities and merchants to issue tokens.

These tokens were most commonly made of copper or brass, but pewter, lead and occasionally leather tokens are also found. Most were not given a specific denomination and were intended to substitute for farthings, but there are also a large number of halfpenny and sometimes penny tokens. Halfpenny and penny tokens usually, but not always, bear the denomination on their face.

Most such tokens show the issuer's full name or initials. Where initials were shown, it was common practice to show three initials: the first names of husband and wife and their surname. Tokens would also normally indicate the merchant establishment, either by name or by picture. Most were round, but they are also found in square, heart or octagonal shapes.

Thousands of towns and merchants issued these tokens from 1648 until 1672, when official production of farthings resumed, and private production was suppressed.

There were again coin shortages in the late 18th century, when the British Royal Mint almost ceased production. Merchants once again produced tokens, but they were now machine made and typically larger than their 17th century predecessors, with values of a halfpenny or more. While many were used in trade, they were also produced for advertising and political purposes, and some series were produced for the primary purpose of sale to collectors. These tokens are usually known as Conder tokens, after the writer of the first reference book on them.

These were issued by merchants in payment for goods with the agreement that they would be redeemed in goods to an equivalent value at the merchants' own outlets. The tokens play a role of convenience, allowing the seller to receive his goods at a rate and time convenient to himself, and the merchant to tie the holder of the token coin to his shop.

In North America, tokens were originally issued by merchants from the 18th century in regions where national or local colonial governments did not issue enough small denomination coins for circulation. In the United States, Hard times tokens issued from 1832 to 1844 and Civil War tokens issued in the 1860s made up for shortages of official money.

Tokens were also used as company scrip to pay labor for use only in company stores owned by the employers.

The collecting of trade tokens is part of the field of exonumia, and includes other types of tokens, including transit tokens, encased cents, and many others. In a narrow sense, trade tokens are "good for" tokens, issued by merchants. Generally, they have a merchant's name or initials, sometimes a town and state, and a value legend (such as "good for 5¢" or other denomination) somewhere on the token. Merchants that issued tokens included general stores, grocers, department stores, dairies, meat markets, drug stores, saloons, bars, taverns, barbers, coal mines, lumber mills and many other businesses. The era of 1870 through 1920 marked the highest use of "trade tokens" in the United States, spurred by the proliferation of small stores in rural areas. There were thousands of small general and merchandise stores all over the United States, and many of them used trade tokens to promote trade and extend credit to customers. Aluminum tokens almost always date after 1890, when low-cost production began. Wooden nickels, another type of token, were usually issued by a merchant or bank as a promotion, sometimes redeemable for a specific item.

Metal token coins are used in lieu of cash in some coin-operated arcade games and casino slot machines. Money is exchanged for the token coins or chips in a casino where they may be interchangeable with money.

In many jurisdictions, casinos are not permitted to use currency in slot machines, necessitating tokens for smaller denominations. After the increase in the value of silver ended the use of silver coins in the United States around 1964, casinos rushed to find a substitute, as most slot machines at that time used that particular coin. The Nevada State Gaming Control Board consulted with the U.S. Treasury, and casinos were soon allowed to start using their own tokens to operate their slot machines. The Franklin Mint was the main minter of casino tokens at that time.

In 1971, many casinos adopted the Eisenhower Dollar for use in machines and on tables. When that coin was replaced with the Susan B. Anthony dollar in 1979, most casinos reinstituted tokens, fearing confusion with quarters and not wishing to extensively retool their slot machines. Casinos which still use tokens in slot machines still use Eisenhower-sized ones.

Tokens are being phased out by many casinos in favor of coinless machines which accept banknotes and print receipts for payout. These receipts, abbreviated "TITOs" for ticket-in, ticket-out, can also be inserted into the machines. In video arcades, they are also being phased out in favor of magnetic cards, which can also count how many tickets one has, allowing arcades to also do away with paper tickets.

Car washes: their use has decreased in favor of cash or credit cards.

Communion tokens were given to church members passing a religious test required for entry prior to the day of communion. While mostly in Scotland, some U.S. churches used communion tokens. Generally, these were pewter, often cast by the minister in church-owned molds.

Military "pogs": Cardboard or plastic military tokens ("pogs") were used as a substitute for coins for United States military overseas. Pogs are lighter and less expensive to ship. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials made pogs in denominations of 5, 10, and 25 cents and they feature images of troops, aircraft, comic book characters, etc.

Parking garages

Pay toilets

Philadelphia Transportation Company transit tokens (1940–68)

Railways and public transport agencies used fare tokens for years, to sell rides in advance at a discount, or to allow patrons to use turnstiles geared only to take tokens (as opposed to coins, currency, or fare cards). Some transport organizations still offer their own tokens for bus and subway services, although the use of computer-readable tickets, credit cards or fare cards has replaced these in most areas.

Shopping cart rental

Telephone tokens were used in public telephone booths in countries with unstable currency so that the price could be easily adjusted. This system was in effect in Brazil until 1997 when magnetic cards were introduced. The practice was also discontinued in Israel, leading to a trend of wearing the devalued tokens as necklaces.

Tolls for toll bridges, toll tunnels, and toll roads: largely phased out due to electronic toll collection.

Video arcades

Australian ALDI cart token, sold in-store for A$0.99, and sized the same as a $2 coin which can also be used to unlock a trolley

See also

               Numismatics portal

American Vecturist Association

Civil War token

Coins of Lundy

Gettone

Glossary of numismatics

Feuchtwanger Cent

Hard times token

Jeton

Medal game

National Transport Tokens (UK)

Pub token

Sales tax token

Telephone token

Token economy

Token sucking

Token money, or token, is a form of money that has a lesser intrinsic value compared to its face value. Token money is anything that is accepted as money, not due to its intrinsic value but instead because of custom or legal enactment. Token money costs less to produce than its face value. A banknote, e.g. a five-pound note, is token money because despite its value being 5 pounds it only costs significantly less to produce. A gold coin is not considered token money. The Token money system has been adopted in many businesses around the world as an effective way to exchange value between companies and customers. Token money as a system is predominantly used in mobile games, but is also used in the realm of e-commerce. Token money is similar to fiat money which also has little intrinsic value, however they differ in that token money is a limited legal tender. The adoption of token money has improved transaction efficiency, as the practicalty of transacting with sums of gold poses a larger security risk. In a commodity economy, money is a measure of the value of goods and services (prices) within a sovereign country or the same economy, as well as a particular commodity to pay off debts. The token is also used as a medium of exchange, as a store of value, and as a unit of account. Digital currencies using decentralized blockchain technology are also a form of token money.

In Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, copper coins were used for small transactions and were issued a monetary value greater than the value of the metal itself. This established the principle of token money, which is the nature of coinage in contemporary society. Plato distinguished between tokens and commodities. In Medieval Indian History, Mohammad Bin Tughlaq (c.1290-1351) issued copper currency called Tanka as token money whose value was legally set equal to silver coin, and is considered the world’s first truly token currency.

In the early nineteenth century, David Ricardo suggested issuing token money as long as it did not affect commodity standard.

Token money has less intrinsic value compared to its face value. If the token money is metallic it is commonly made out of cheaper metals such as copper and nickel.

Token money is also money whose face value exceeds its cost of production, i.e. the intrinsic value is lower than the extrinsic value. This means that the actual worth of a note or coin is much less than what we use it for. The cost of production of token money is less than its actual value, for example with convertible currency, collector notes, souvenirs, coupons, some retired US banknotes and per 1986 banknotes printed in regulation size and only on one side with authorization are actually worth more dollars than when issued.

With token money, exchanges are not considered fully complete because the exchange of value is not equivalent. Value is hoped to be rendered at some future time. Examples of this include bills of exchange or negotiable instrument and certificates.

Exonumia are numismatic items (such as tokens, medals, or scrip) other than coins and paper money. This includes "Good For" tokens, badges, counterstamped coins, elongated coins, encased coins, souvenir medallions, tags, wooden nickels and other similar items. It is an aspect of numismatics and many coin collectors are also exonumists.

Besides the above strict definition, others extend it to include non-coins which may or may not be legal tenders such as cheques, credit cards and similar paper. These can also be considered notaphily or scripophily.

The noun exonumia is derived from two classical roots: exo, meaning "out-of" in Greek, and nummus, meaning "coin" in Latin (from Greek νοῦμμος – noummos, "coin"); thus, "out[side]-of-[the category]coins". The equivalent British term, paranumismatica, may also be used.

The words exonumist and exonumia were coined in July 1960 by Russell Rulau, a recognized authority and author on the subject, and accepted by Webster's dictionary in 1965.

Many tokens were produced and used as currency in the United States and elsewhere when there was a shortage of government-issued money. Tokens have been used for both to advertise and to facilitate commerce and may or may not have a value.

Token authority Russell Rulau offers a broad definition for exonumia in his 1040 page tome, UNITED STATES TOKENS: 1700–1900  but lines between categories can be fuzzy. For example, an advertising token may also be considered a medal. Good For tokens may also advertise. Counter-stamped coins have been called "little billboards."

One way of parsing tokens is into these three general categories:

Has a "value," facilitating commerce, such as Good for (something).

Commemoration, remembrance, dedication, or the like, for some person, place, idea or event.

Of a personal nature.

Typically, catalogs of tokens are organized by location, time period, and/or type of item. Historically, the need for tokens grew out of the need for currency. In America, some tokens legally circulated alongside or instead of currency. Hard Times Tokens and Civil War Tokens each were the size of the contemporary cent. Afterwards, value based items, such as Good for (amount of money), Good for One Quart of Milk, Good for One Beer, Good for One Ride… and others were specifically linked to commerce of the store or place of issue.

Medals are coin-like artistic objects, typically with a commemorative purpose. They may be awarded for recognition of achievement or created for sale to commemorate individuals or events. They may be souvenirs, devotional, or purely artistic. Medals are generally not used as currency or for exchange.

Exonumia collectors, like coin collectors, are attentive to condition and rarity, as well as to history, form and type. Exonumists may collect items by region, topic, type, shape or material and this affects the ways tokens are documented.

The following categories are typical. This is not all-inclusive but is a sampling of the wide variety of exonumia.

Love Token: A coin with hand engraving, generally on one side, or deliberately bent.

Carved Potty coins: usually United States Seated Liberty coinage carved to show lady Liberty sitting on a chamber pot.

Hobo nickels: Initially, hand-engraved Buffalo nickels mostly in the era 1913–38. Now, applied more generally to hand-engraved coins of different denominations.

Counterstamped/countermarked or chopped coins (done by merchants or governments)

Cut Coins: artistically carved creations made from genuine coins, both new and old, often for jewelry.

Elongated coins: Rolled out with advertising, commemorative, or souvenir designs on one side

Encased Coin: Generally in a ring with advertising

Colored or painted circulation or bullion issues

Short snorter: paper money signed by people sharing a common experience

Play money

Fantasy issue or novelty money (e.g. Promotional fake United States currency, Prop money)

Mardi Gras Doubloons

Counterfeit coins

Money art

Government Services & Non-National tools to Facilitate Commerce

Jetons: Used as counters when verifying totals or weights of coins for commerce and exchange

Telephone tokens/Gettoni

Evasion tokens: 18th century semi-counterfeit were made to look like kind of but not exactly like actual currency

Local currency, e.g. Ithaca Hours

Sales tax tokens: Issued by states and merchants

Dog license tags

Post office tags

Food stamps

Slave tags: see Slave codes

Transportation Tokens

Ferries and watercraft

Buses

Subway

Trains

Trams/Trolleys

Closed Community / Membership

Communion tokens: given to congregation members to permit them to participate in Holy Communion)

Company scrip

Ingle Credit System script

Lumber

Mining

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

College Currency

Challenge coins

Fraternal

Masonic

Elks

Moose

Woodmen of the World

Geocoins used in geocaching

Leper colony money

Military Store and Entertainment

Plantation

Picker tokens for crops

Prison and Correctional/Asylums

Sobriety coin

Wooden nickels

Cardboard or paper

Hard rubber or ebonite

Bullion, e.g. non-legal tender silver rounds

Movements and ideals

Temperance

Anti-slavery

Religious (including temple tokens)

Political tokens, e.g. Bryan Money

World's Fair or other expositions

Locations

City or state anniversary

Of a Personal nature – Personals

Key tags (e.g. In case lost return to …)

Badges

Company

Occupation

Hand-engraved or uniquely counterstamped coins, as pocket pieces

Watch fobs

Arcade/Amusement tokens

Apothecary tokens

Bakery token

Beer

Pub/bar/saloon

Billiards/pool

Brothel tokens

Car wash tokens

Casino/Slot tokens/Casino chips

Cigar/smoke shops

Coat check

Disney Dollars

Fisherman tokens

Milk/dairy

Parking tokens: for meters or gates

Pay toilet tokens

Peep show

Railway cheque tokens

Medals

George Washington medals

Presidents, governors, other politicians

Inventors and other important persons

So-called dollars: medals and souvenirs similar in size to a silver dollar commemorating American historical events such as world's fairs, anniversary celebrations, dedications, battles, public works projects, etc.

Modern items under the exonumia umbrella include:

Credit cards

Gift cards: Gift cards have been replacing the giving of cash for events

Telephone cards

Music cards

By Region

China

There are many types of Chinese exonumia, including alternative currencies:

Bamboo tally

Token

and numismatic charms:

Buddhist coin charm

Burial money

Confucian coin charm

Horse coin

Hell money

Lei Ting curse charm

Marriage coin charm

Open-work charm

Vault protector coin

Taoist coin charm

Zhengde Tongbao

Germany

Notgeld, primarily in the form of paper banknotes, was issued in Germany and Austria during World War I and the interwar period by towns, banks and other institutions due to a shortage of money.

Latin America

Latin American coffee or plantation tokens were an important part of commerce.[4] Many plantation owners had their own commissaries and workers used plantation tokens to pay for provisions. Many tokens were made in the United States or Europe. Plantation tokens had an array of denominations and names. The name can be the owner, their relatives or the name of the farm (or finca). Tokens had allegorical symbols to identify the owner. Tokens were used as currency when there was not enough official currency available. Workers could convert the tokens to official currency on Saturdays.[citation needed]

Tokens were made in all types of base metals and alloys plus plastic, celluloid and bakelite. Unique to Costa Rica were tokens made of paper (paper chits). The word "boleto" is used in Costa Rica for the word token whereas "ficha" is used in the rest of Latin America.

United Kingdom

Conder tokens were privately minted tokens from the later part of the 18th century and the early part of the 19th century in England, Anglesey and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

Rulau  breaks down American tokens into these general time periods:

Early American

Hard times tokens were made during the "hard times" after President Andrew Jackson shut down the Second Bank of the United States. These tokens were issued privately to circulate in the local economy as a one cent coin. They had a wide variety of subject matter, including advertising and political/satirical themes (anti-slavery, anti-Jackson).

Civil War tokens were made between 1861 and 1864 due to the scarcity of government-issued cents during the American Civil War. Encased postage stamps were also used for this purpose.

Merchant (including modern gas tokens, ex: Shell tokens)

Trade tokens

Gay 90s

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