Samuel Selmes Hop Token, 1800's.
$104
NZNDA member
Lead token, 39mm.
Grade VF.
Samuel Selmes was a large hop-grower he farmed 190 acres of Leasam farm.
The price received for hops fluctuated greatly, so the price paid to the pickers has to fluctuate also. The price was not fixed until the crop was picked and priced. The pickers were generally very poor people from the slums of London, problems arose keeping account between the hop-grower and the hop-picker. Early in the eighteenth century the custom arose for hop-growers to strike lead tokens inscribed with a value in bushels to be credited in the local shops as money, at the price then fixed, these tokens were put back into a bag and kept until the following year.
