A market token, used by E. Plowman & Son Ltd. of Covent Garden Market and Somerstown. SEE DESCRIPTION FOR DETAILS.

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This token was used by Aubury's greengrocers in Battersea Park Road in the late 1920's. It was issued by E Plowman & Son Ltd of Covent Garden Market and Somerstown. Tokens, or brasses, were used by market traders at a time when fruit and veg were supplied in durable wooden boxes or baskets. The purchaser would be charged a deposit and given a token. The deposit was returned on production of both the container and the token - the purpose of the token was to ensure that people did not steal the boxes and keep returning them to claim non-existent deposits. Their use declined in the 1950s and 1960s but they finally ended with the introduction of Value Added Tax in the 1970s, as VAT would have been charged on the deposits.

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Size: 3981px × 2645px
Location: England
Photo credit: © UrbanImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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