Extremely rare Oxford real tennis courts token dated 1652,marked Thomas Wood, with a racket symbol to the one side and vintner in OXON 1652 to the reverse, diameter 1.5cm.Thomas Wood was a racket court keeper and vintner who died in 1663. Some of the earliest tennis courts in England were located in Oxford and usually linked to inns. In the middle of the seventeenth century Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector and the Government issued very few coins so local traders organised their own payment systems using small tokens. This tiny survivor would have been used for court hire or for drinks after the game. Despite its age the details are reasonably clear.
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Extremely rare Oxford real tennis courts token dated 1652,marked Thomas Wood, with a racket symbol to the one side and vintner in OXON 1652 to the reverse, diameter 1.5cm.Thomas Wood was a racket court keeper and vintner who died in 1663. Some of the earliest tennis courts in England were located in Oxford and usually linked to inns. In the middle of the seventeenth century Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector and the Government issued very few coins so local traders organised their own payment systems using small tokens. This tiny survivor would have been used for court hire or for drinks after the game. Despite its age the details are reasonably clear.