Æ farthing token, 1652. Diameter 15.5mm.  * · AT· THE· GEORGE· around St. George and dragon.   R. * IN· DOVER· 1652 around, · C · above I * E in centre.   BW 204; Norweb 2535 graded as VF-20 !  Mediocre/about fair

Ex Robert Thompson, ex Norweb, the piece illustrated on the plates.

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Pigot’s Directory of 1823 for Kent has : DOVER. A Sea and Cinque Port of considerable consequence and antiquity, situated in the east of Kent, is distant from the metropolis 72, and from Calais, (France,) 21 miles. To the latter of these places there are regular, safe and elegant steam packets passing daily; these modern conveyances very frequently perform the voyage in three hours. Dover was the first of the cinque ports, incorporated by charter, by which incorporation it enjoys extensive and valuable privileges. The situation is extremely singular and interesting, being immediately at the foot of stupendous cliffs, with a full view of the sea, and the coast of France. The castle, of which Lord Liverpool is constable, is a venerable and admirable pile of building, it is situated on a lofty summit, and is the chief ornament of the place. The view from this prominence and the contiguous heights, are rich, varied and sublime.

To these we can add the following: Dover derives its name from the River Dour that flows through it. It is south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. Modern archaeological finds have revealed that the area has always been a focus for peoples entering and leaving Britain since the Stone Age. During the Roman period, the area became part of the Roman communications network, connected by road to Canterbury and Watling Street.  It became Portus Dubris, a fortified port with ten gates.   Dover has a partly preserved Roman lighthouse which is the tallest surviving Roman structure in Britain. The castle also features the Blériot memorial: the outline of Louis Blériot's aircraft, at the exact spot where Blériot landed after the first cross-Channel flight, in 1909.