In the reigns of Edward VI. and Mary the issue of a base-metal currency gave rise to considerable dissatisfaction and fraud, and under Elizabeth, who issued three-halfpence and three-farthing pieces, that spurious currency was declared no longer current. Despite the issuing, however, of these three-halfpenny and three-farthing pieces, the want of halfpennies and farthings was still so seriously felt by the entire population, that housekeepers, chandlers, grocers, mercers, vintners, and most other traders were impelled, for conscience’ sake, to the issue of private tokens of lead, pewter, latten, tin, and even leather, for the purposes of trade. These were issued by the traders, and commodities in exchange could only be had from their issuers; they were thus useless as a circulating medium and a source of frequent loss to their holders. In 1574 a proposition was made to the Queen by two persons named Wickliffe and Humphrey, to coin halfpence and farthings in base silver (to weigh respectively 12 and 6 grains), but was not acted upon. It was then proposed to coin pledges of copper, and a proclamation forbidding the use of private tokens and authorizing those just named was prepared; this, however, again, was not acted upon, and private tokens still continued in use. In 1582 the three-farthing pieces were withdrawn and silver halfpennies issued. They bear on the obverse a portcullis and mint mark, and on the reverse a cross and pellets. In 1601 and 1602 the requirements of the army in Ireland caused, for a time, the issue of copper pence, halfpence, and farthings, and this seems to have revived the idea of copper pledges for England, for which, indeed, pattern pieces were struck. Copper tokens were, at that time, issued by the cities of Oxford, Worcester, and Bristol.