Trade token with "William Barnett, market gardener, Evesham" on the obverse and a faded pattern on the reverse.
Tokens are coin-like objects used instead of coins, usually issued by a private company, group, association or individual. This token was issued by William Barnett (1858-1921), a market gardener of Church Street, Bengeworth. It may have been used to advertise his business or, more likely, that it was used in the way in which wholesale food markets used tokens: as a receipt for deposits paid for baskets, boxes, sacks and other containers used to convey produce. When baskets, boxes, sacks etc were issued, the trader would charge a deposit to ensure the return of the container. Simply returning the deposit when the container was returned was open to fraud, since they could readily be stolen from the back of the market and then re-presented to collect the deposit again. To receive repayment, both the container and the token had to be presented to the trader.