This is a 18th-century copper token rather than a struck government issue — "Princeps Walliae" (Prince of Wales) pieces circulated widely during Britain's chronic small-change shortage of the 1780s and 1790s, when the Royal Mint's neglect of copper coinage left commerce to fend for itself through private and merchant tokens. The phrase "Delectat Rus" — roughly "the country delights" — places this among the pastoral series favored by certain token issuers of the period.
Atkins' 1892 reference work remains the standard attribution for these provincial and evasion pieces.
This is a 18th-century copper token rather than a struck government issue — "Princeps Walliae" (Prince of Wales) pieces circulated widely during Britain's chronic small-change shortage of the 1780s and 1790s, when the Royal Mint's neglect of copper coinage left commerce to fend for itself through private and merchant tokens. The phrase "Delectat Rus" — roughly "the country delights" — places this among the pastoral series favored by certain token issuers of the period.
Atkins' 1892 reference work remains the standard attribution for these provincial and evasion pieces.