(sold for $108.0)

1659, Great Britain, Plymouth, Richard Hamlyn. Copper Alloy Farthing Token. R!

Condition: XF!
Mint Year: 1659
Region: Plymouth
Reference: Williamson (1889, no. 253).
Denomination: Farthing Token - Richard Hamlyn
Material: Copper Alloy
Diameter: 16mm
Weight: 0.95gm

Obverse: Initials (.H./R.P/..) within inner circle.
Legend: 1659 * IN * PLYMOVTH *

Reverse: Buch of wine grapes within inner circle.
Legend: * RICHARD * HAMLIN *

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the south coast of Devon, England, about 37 miles (60 km) south-west of Exeter, and about 190 miles (310 km) south-west of London. It is situated between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound.

Plymouth's early history extends to the Bronze Age, when a first settlement emerged at Mount Batten. This settlement continued as a trading post for the Roman Empire, until it was surpassed by the more prosperous village of Sutton, now called Plymouth. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers departed Plymouth for the New World and established Plymouth Colony – the second English settlement in what is now the United States of America. During the English Civil War the town was held by the Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646.

Throughout the Industrial Revolution, Plymouth grew as a commercial shipping port, handling imports and passengers from the Americas, and exporting local minerals (tin, copper, lime, china clay and arsenic) while the neighbouring town of Devonport became a strategic Royal Naval shipbuilding and dockyard town. In 1914 three neighbouring independent towns, viz., the county borough of Plymouth, the county borough of Devonport, and the urban district of East Stonehouse were merged to form a single County Borough. The combined town took the name of Plymouth which, in 1928, achieved city status. The city's naval importance later led to its targeting and partial destruction during World War II, an act known as the Plymouth Blitz. After the war the city centre was completely rebuilt and subsequent expansion led to the incorporation of Plympton and Plymstock along with other outlying suburbs in 1967.

Today the city is home to around 250,000 people, making it the 27th most populous built-up area in England and Wales. It is governed locally by Plymouth City Council and is represented nationally by three MPs. Plymouth's economy remains strongly influenced by shipbuilding and seafaring including ferry links to France (Roscoff and St Malo) and Spain (Santander), but has tended toward a service-based economy since the 1990s. It has the ninth largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students, the University of Plymouth, and the largest operational naval base in Western Europe – HMNB Devonport.