St Helens penny farthing token from the 1870s is being sold on eBay for £75

As low coinage such as penny farthings were often in short supply outside of London in the 19th century, a series of unofficial 'tokens' began to be circulated

A rare coin collector is selling an 'unofficial' penny farthing token from St Helens for £75 on eBay - an increase of around 75,000 percent of its original value.

The coin, which would have been used as a form of payment in the 19th century, is described as being made from copper and is in "very fine" condition.

It is being sold by a seller based in St Helens, who states that the coin is "unofficial" and was used as a form of advertising by local businesses.

The coin features a copy of Queen Victoria's portrait on one side and the inscription "RG Brook & Co Ironmongers and Cutlers St Helens" on the other.

It is unclear what the coin would have been used to purchase, but it is likely to have been used for small everyday items such as food or drink.

The seller states that the coin is "very rare" and is likely to sell for a high price.

At the time of writing, the coin has already received a bid of £51.

Unofficial penny farthing tokens began to be circulated in areas outside of London in the 19th century, due to a shortage of low coinage such as penny farthings.

Although the authorities would enforce the law against people using tokens as low as a halfpenny in value, penny farthing tokens, which were worth around a quarter of a penny, were often circulated unhindered.

The tokens often bore a description of their issuer's name, address, and business interest, as well as a copy of the queen's portrait to make them seem more realistic.

The coins also deliberately omitted the word 'farthing' and any reference to monetary value, so the owner could plead innocence that the coin was purely an advertising piece rather than an object of payment.

With these penny farthing tokens carrying a limited and particular history, many of them now sell for tens of thousands of times more than their original quarter penny value.

This is because the quarter penny value was at a time when there was 240 pennies to the pound, so it would now be worth around 0.10 pence in today's money.

A website on unofficial penny farthings shows various tokens being sold from £9 to upwards of £100.