Whale Fishery Token - Merchant Half Penny - Dated 1794

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Whale Fishery Token - English 18th Century - Copper, Dated 1794. Merchant half-penny token.

Obv: Neptune with trident.

Rev: Scene of sailors and whale. ''Payable at I FOWLER, LONDON''

Very Scarce! (29mm, 8.75gm) 

On 1 September 1788, the 270 ton whaleship Emilia, owned by Samuel Enderby and Sons and commanded by Captain James Shields, departed London. The ship went west around Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean to become the first ship of any nation to conduct whaling operations in the Southern Ocean.

A crewman, Archelus Hammond of Nantucket, killed the first sperm whale there off the coast of Chile on 3 March 1789. Emilia returned to London on 12 March 1790 with a cargo of 139 tons of sperm oil. The Enderby ship Friendship captained by Thomas Melvill was second collecting the 600 pounds.

  • Inventory# PA-2908
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