GRIFFYDAM HISTORY

This rare token has been kindly donated to us by Nigel Lee Foskett who found it wth a metal detector in Hall Lane Whitwick about 10 years ago. If there is a date on the token it is difficult to decipher but we know from newspaper reports that the Griffydam Society was in operation in 1876. The fact it just has "Griffydam Co-operative Society" around the perimeter suggests that it was most likely a trading society operated from a co-operative shop in the village. These tinned iron or zinc tokens were issued to members equal to the sum they spent in the store. They would be retained by the member until the quarterly or half yearly dividend was declared when they would be redeemed for cash depending on how profitable the co-operative was. For example, if the dividend was declared at 2 shillings in the pound then £1 in purchases (represented by the One Pound token) would result in the customer getting 2 shillings in coin of the realm. There was a risk with metal tokens that some of the higher value tokens might be forged which could cause societies to struggle financially. As a result, some societies stopped using metal tokens in exchange for a paper counterfoil system and by the 20th century plastic tokens had come into use. Further information can be found here>>