1870 年代的聖海倫斯便士代幣在 eBay 上售價 75 英鎊

19 世紀，由於諸如便士法新之類的低錢幣在倫敦以外地區經常供應短缺，一系列非官方的「代幣」開始流通

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.

一位稀有硬幣收藏家正在 eBay 上以 75 英鎊的價格出售一枚來自聖海倫斯的“非官方”便士法新代幣，其原始價值增加了約 75,000%。

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.

這枚硬幣在 19 世紀被用作一種支付方式，據稱是由銅製成的，狀態「非常好」。

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.

這枚硬幣由聖海倫斯的一位賣家出售，他表示該硬幣是“非官方的”，並被當地企業用作廣告形式。

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.

硬幣的一側刻有維多利亞女王的肖像，另一側則刻有“RG Brook & Co Ironmongers and Cutlers St Helens”字樣。

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.

目前還不清楚這枚硬幣會用來購買什麼，但它很可能被用於購買食物或飲料等日常小物品。

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

賣家表示，這枚硬幣“非常稀有”，可能會賣高價。

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

截至撰寫本文時，該硬幣已收到 51 英鎊的出價。

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.

19 世紀，由於諸如便士法新等低價貨幣的短缺，非官方的便士法新代幣開始在倫敦以外的地區流通。

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.

儘管當局會對使用價值低至半便士的代幣的人實施法律，但價值約四分之一便士的便士代幣通常可以不受阻礙地流通。

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.

這些代幣通常帶有對其發行人的名稱、地址和商業利益的描述，以及女王肖像的副本，以使它們看起來更加真實。

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.

這些硬幣還故意省略了“farthing”一詞以及任何與貨幣價值相關的內容，因此所有者可以辯稱自己無罪，稱該硬幣純粹是一種廣告作品而不是支付對象。

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.

由於這些一分錢代幣的歷史有限且特殊，其中許多現在的售價比原來的四分之一便士價值高出數萬倍。

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.

這是因為當時 25 便士的價值是每磅 240 便士，所以現在換算成今天的錢大約值 0.10 便士。

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

一個非官方便士法新網站顯示，各種代幣的售價從 9 英鎊到 100 英鎊不等。