Obverse: WM. RUSHER HATTER BOOKSLR. & STATIONER BANBURY, Three-quarter facing bust of William Rusher looking to the right.

Reverse: DEUS EST NOBIS SOL ET SCUTUM, The sun with rays and a face in its centre enclosed in a circle.

Edge: PAYABLE AT BANBURY OXFORD OR READING.

Diameter: 28 mm. Weight: 9.8 g. Dalton & Hamer: Oxfordshire 1, p.222.

A fantastic 18th century halfpenny ‘Conder’ token in near-mint condition. Although this token is undated, it is likely to have been struck in 1794, the year William Rusher set up his shop in the market place in Banbury. A contemporary advertisement in Jackson's Oxford Journal, for 13 November 1794, offers quite a revealing glimpse of the scope of William’s business at that particular moment: “All kinds of Books and Stationery, Mens and Boys Hats, Gold Rings, Silver Goods, Plated Buckles, Looking Glasses etc. etc. now selling cheap at William Rusher’s (the late Mr White’s shop) in the Market Place, Banbury.” On the obverse is a detailed portrait of William Rusher, with longish hair and a high cravat, and the inscription: ‘Wm. Rusher Hatter Bookseller & Stationer Banbury’; on the reverse is the borough’s emblem of the sun in splendour, with the inscription: ‘Deus est nobis sol et scutum’ (God is to us both sun and shield). A wonderful example in exceptional condition with areas of lustre.