My ancestor had a trade token made with his initials, 1667, and the word FLOWER. Is this the symbol for his trade? Guild? If so which trade? Any ideas? I believe his son was a tallow chandler.
Can you give us a little more info. Such as a name and the area he came from. It may be something specific to the area he lived in.
The symbol of a flower means sorrow and a broken flower is premature death. As to the word ‘flower’ maybe it has the same significance.
Oops, sorry read first post wrong. No idea why I thought it was a grave symbol. Back to sleep for me.
Here we go again. The word flower is described as meaning ‘prosper, thrive, vigorous, or to blossom. Perhaps why he used the word.
John Tisdall(Tisdalle) in St. Albans 1667 initials used were I.e.t. And the words a flower. I believe this John is the father of my John 6 time GGF, who baptized his children in the abbey of St. Albans. I know my John 6 gif was a tallow chandler, but have no idea about this John.
Maybe it was a love token. Does it have his wife's initials on? The flower symbol seems to be quite a commonly used design, so in fact may not have a specific meaning.
Believe it or not I stumbled on a web site called Trade Tokens issued in the Seventeenth Century in England, Wales and Ireland. They didn’t show the token as some are in private collections, this book was initially started in the 1800’s and then given to another collector and researcher in the early 1900’s. John Tisdalle of St. Albans was listed with a description of hides token. Quite a find! But it has thrown a new wrench in my research. I’m hoping the flower might give me a clue of this johns occupation.
Yes they are I.E.T. And research has shown that many issuers printed their initial, their wife’s initial, and surname.
The token is listed on the St Alban's Museum web-site - Description Token of I. E. T. (John Tisdale) 1667 Accession No 1900.59859 - which implies that it is held at the museum. Why not contact them and see if they can tell you more about it? You'll find their site at Code: https://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/ If you scroll right down to the bottom of the page, you'll find a link to their contact details.
