Two Oxford 17th century tokens including a very rare example for real tennis dated 1652, one an extremely rare tennis token marked Thomas Wood with a

Two Oxford 17th century tokens including a very rare example for real tennis dated 1652, one an extremely rare tennis token marked Thomas Wood with a racquet symbol, the second relating to the Mayor but from the same year, diameter 15mm each, poor condition but the details are still visible, (2) The tokens would have been used for court hire or drinks. Thomas Wood was a racquet court keeper and vintner who died in 1653. In the middle of the 17th century Olivier Cromwell became Lord Protector and the Government issued very few coins, so local traders organised their own payment system using small tokens.