Coin United Kingdom 1/2 Penny - Anti-Slavery Conder Token 1796 - "Am I Not A Man And A Brother"

In 1787, responding to an ongoing shortage in official coinage, some British merchants and tradesmen began producing their own privately minted coins and tokens for local circulation. Cheap and accessible, these objects proved an ideal vehicle for political propaganda. Abolitionist and antislavery designs proliferated in London and the provinces. This halfpenny token, which was manufactured in Birmingham, bears the seal of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade on the obverse (or front). A pair of clasped hands with the inscription “May slavery & oppression cease throughout the world” appears on the reverse.