Free Shipping 1795 Pigs Meat Middlesex Farthing Conder Token - D&h 1117 - Extremely Fine Tool [q3PNXeyB]

Obverse: A pig trampling upon emblems of royalty, above: liberty cap, PIGS MEAT PUBLISHED BY T. SPENCE LONDON.
Reverse: THOs SPENCE / Sir THOs MORE / THOs PAINE 1795, around: ADVOCATES FOR THE RIGHTS OF MAN.

Edge: Plain.

Born in Newcastle in 1750, Thomas Spence was an activist who became a schoolmaster and eventually developed radical political views. He strongly believed in nationalizing all land, heavily influenced by the writings of Tom Paine, and sold Paine's work and his own pamphlets on the streets of Newcastle.

In December 1792, Spence moved to London where he continued to sell Paine's "Rights of Man" on street corners. Though he was arrested, he soon opened a radical book and pamphlet shop in Chancery Lane.

In 1793, he published a periodical called "Pigs' Meat," advocating for universal suffrage and annual parliaments. In the first edition, he declared, "Awake! Arise! Arm yourselves with truth, justice, and reason. Lay siege to corruption. Claim your inalienable right to choose representatives from the lower classes, who will sympathize with you."