Plymouth halfpenny token

Token, copper, 28mm diameter. Plymouth halfpenny 1796. (DH Devon 6). Issuer Shepheard, Dove, Hammett & Co., 1796, ½d. Obverse Man seated at a loom: ‘Plymouth Halfpenny’. Reverse Woman seated at a spinning wheel: ‘Sail Canvas Manufactory’. Notes The factory was founded by eighteen men for philanthropic reasons to give employment to the poor. Shepheard was a witness at the trial of another partner, the Rev William Winterbotham, a Dissenting minister. For preaching two seditious sermons he was sentenced to four years imprisonment and a fine of £200.