April 29, 2026
The Matthew Boulton Papers

A Proposed 1796 Copper Tokens

Correspondence from 20 May 1796 to 15 September 1796
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These are letters from 1796, to and from Matthew Boulton of Soho, Birmingham — the famous industrialist and partner of James Watt. The first letter was forward to Matthew Boulton, the owner of the Soho mint. Boulton wrote that he had no objection to strike them. He also detailed the cost and profit for minting these pieces. As we now know, these proposed tokens were not struck.

It is interesting to note that Charles William was most probably a relation of Henry de Jersey who with Charles Bishop had the famous Guernsey Bishop de Jersey Five Shilling token minted. In the letter dated May 20, 1796, Charles William of Jersey made an enquiry to Thomas Willams, the copper king of Anglesey, about the production of a token coinage for the island of Jersey.

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Boulton's Computations for the Proposed Coinage.
This information about the Birmingham letters is made possible by Phil Warrington, a fellow numismatist and my friend of many years. Phil went to the trouble going to the Birmingham libaray and making digital copies of these letters.
A Request for a 1796 Coinage.1
The 1796 Coinage Cost.2

These documents are held at Birmingham Archives & Heritage, Birmingham Central Library (GB 143 BA&H).
All references to MS documents come from there.
1.  MS 3782/12/73/122 Letter. Thomas Williams (Anglesey) to Matthew Boulton (Soho).
2.  MS 3782/12/73/123 Copy letter. Thomas Williams (Anglesey) to Matthew Boulton (Soho).

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