Middlesex halfpenny token, 1791.

Token, copper, 28mm diameter. Middlesex halfpenny, 1791. (DH Mddx 1022). Honouring the composer Handel. Issuer Unknown. Obverse Bust of G F Handel, the composer: ‘I know that my redeemer liveth. G F Handel’. Reverse ‘Benevolent choral fund instituted 1791 for its decay’d members widows and orphans’. Notes This token was probably issued by the organisers of the fund as a means of raising money. Handel died in 1759 and the use of his name in connection with a choral fund appeal indicates the continuing popularity of his music. The quotation is from the ‘Messiah’ and the book of Job [19:25].