1870 年代的圣海伦斯便士代币在 eBay 上售价 75 英镑

19 世纪，由于诸如便士法新之类的低钱币在伦敦以外地区经常供应短缺，一系列非官方的“代币”开始流通

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.

一位稀有硬币收藏家正在 eBay 上以 75 英镑的价格出售一枚来自圣海伦斯的“非官方”便士法新代币，其原始价值增加了​​约 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.

这枚硬币在 19 世纪被用作一种支付方式，据称是由铜制成的，状态“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.

这枚硬币由圣海伦斯的一位卖家出售，他表示该硬币是“非官方的”，被当地企业用作广告形式。

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.

该硬币的一侧刻有维多利亚女王的肖像，另一侧刻有“RG Brook & Co Ironmongers and Cutlers St Helens”字样。

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.

目前还不清楚这枚硬币会用来购买什么，但它很可能被用于购买食物或饮料等日常小物品。

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

卖家表示，这枚硬币“非常稀有”，可能会卖高价。

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

截至撰写本文时，该硬币已收到 51 英镑的出价。

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 世纪，由于诸如便士法新等低价货币的短缺，非官方的便士法新代币开始在伦敦以外的地区流通。

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.

尽管当局会对使用价值低至半便士的代币的人实施法律，但价值约四分之一便士的便士代币通常可以不受阻碍地流通。

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.

这些代币通常带有对其发行人的名称、地址和商业利益的描述，以及女王肖像的副本，以使它们看起来更加真实。

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.

这些硬币还故意省略了“farthing”一词以及任何与货币价值相关的内容，因此所有者可以辩称自己无罪，称该硬币纯粹是一种广告作品而不是支付对象。

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.

由于这些一分钱代币的历史有限且特殊，其中许多现在的售价比原来的四分之一便士价值高出数万倍。

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.

这是因为当时 25 便士的价值是每磅 240 便士，所以现在换算成今天的钱大约值 0.10 便士。

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

一个非官方便士法新网站显示，各种代币的售价从 9 英镑到 100 英镑不等。