Rose Copper Company

[barrie]

A mate is sending me a token issued by the Rose Copper Company of Birmingham & Swansea. Haveb't been able to find much on't Tinterweb, so wondered if anyone can throw some light on them.


Barrie.

 

[ladylinda]

The originally Cornish company, operated in South Wales from c.1780 through to 1797.
There is one of these coins in Swansea Museum
In 1792 a company was formed by Birmingham businessmen, the Rose Copper Company.
Initially it obtained its copper from the Mines Royal Company, subsequently shifting to Fenton & Company, whose smelting works, next to those of the Birmingham Mining and Copper Company, were bought by the Rose company in 1797.
Like earlier companies it probably also manufactured brass, and possibly spelter.
Matthew Boulton was a prominent shareholder and instrumental in arranging the merger with Fenton.
It was through the Rose company that he obtained much of his supply of copper for his coinage contracts.
The Rose Copper Company took over a smelter adjacent to Lockwood's Landore (Llangyfelach)works in1797.
This site was originally erected by a Leeds based firm, Fenton & Chacewater Company in 1780.
The Rose Copper Company continued to occupy the works up to 1822.

 

[mikejee]

I take it you have seen info there is at https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/293/5/5._Ch_4.pdf They are listed as being in Cherry St in the 1815 & 1818 Wrightson's directory, but not in the 1823 directory . The company seems to have existed from 1793-1821, so this is not surprising. The smelting works in Wales was later used by the firm of Williams Foster & co

 

[horsencart]

In the 1816-17 directory they are listed as

Rose Copper Company Cherry St Birmingham,
there is a mention of them in a 1818 directory

 

[chocks2]

This token obviously has a value of 1d (1 old penny for those who don't know) but that is as much as I know.
I understand that tokens were paid to workers to spend in the companies own shop ( good old scam by the owner that was!) but I'm a little confused by this one because it has two names on it. One in Brum and the other in Dudley. Can anyone throw any light on it?

 

[mikejee]

I seem to remember that I & J were a bit interchahgeable at one time. There was a Thomas & Isaac Badger , nail makers, Snow Hill, Dudley in 1835 & 1841. By 1862 it had become Badger & Co, so coin must be befo re that . There is no other Badger in Dudley in the directories. A richard Wallis is listed in 1815 as a private address in great charles St in birmingham . The next Richard Wallises I can find are in 1845 ; a joiner & carpenter in smithfield passage and a scale maker at 4 court digbeth. Neither would seem to have much connection to a nailmaker and would also seem to be too late to refer to coin . Not much help I'm afraid.

 

[ColinB]

There's a mention of a T & J Badger for the Greaves Colliery at Bilston in 1869, which is close to Dudley.

https://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cmhrc/lom69ssw.htm


Colin

 

[chocks2]

Thank's for the info Mike and Colin. It doesn't help much but it's all I've got so far. It's an odd one is this.

 

[Vivienne14]

Here are three tokens, all late 1700s. Images show front and back of tokens. Two Hockley ones and a Lozells one. Viv.

 

[Big Gee]

Just out of interest - the Rose Copper Company in Birmingham became the Birmingham Battery & Metal Company, Bristol Road, Selly Oak. The original Rose Copper Co produced copper sheeting for wooden ships, hence 'copper bottomed' as in impregnable.

I noticed on "Flog It" the other day a large collection of company tokens was auctioned.

G