LIBERTY & SECURITY

About This Coin

Struck in Birmingham, England — the epicenter of late eighteenth-century token manufacture — the LIBERTY & SECURITY tokens are among the most commonly encountered Washington Pieces, produced in copper with designs that pair George Washington's portrait with inscriptions celebrating the foundational principles of the new American republic. The obverse features a draped bust of Washington, while the reverse typically displays a heraldic eagle or shield device beneath the dual motto "LIBERTY & SECURITY," expressing the twin aspirations that defined the American constitutional experiment. Birmingham's Soho Mint and associated workshops produced enormous quantities of copper tokens during the 1790s, both for British domestic circulation during the token coinage period and for export to American and colonial markets, and the LIBERTY & SECURITY type represents one of the most commercially successful entries in this transatlantic token trade. Multiple die varieties exist, distinguished by variations in Washington's portrait style, the reverse design elements, edge treatments (plain, lettered, and reeded edges are all known), and the size and spacing of the inscriptions. The pieces were intended to circulate at halfpenny value in American commerce, supplementing the inadequate supply of official federal copper coinage during the early years of the republic. Despite their English manufacture, LIBERTY & SECURITY tokens were produced specifically for the American market, and their inscriptions reflect American rather than British political values — a distinction that separates them from the contemporary British commercial tokens produced by the same workshops for domestic use. Collectors evaluating these tokens should assess the portrait detail, particularly the hair strands and drapery folds, and the crispness of the reverse inscription, as die states vary considerably across the production run. The relative availability of common varieties makes this type an accessible entry point for collectors beginning to explore the Washington Pieces series.