UK - Wilkinson Iron Master 1793

Wilkinson "The Iron Master" was also very prominent in Copper. John Boulton had dealings with him and inspired him to get into the business of private copper tokens while he was waiting for his government coining contract. There are three major reverse types for John Wilkinson; the Barge, Forge, and Vulcan. This is the Forge type with the huge stamping machine and brick forge, here all nicely detailed. You can see a Vulcan type in the Museum also.
A series of counterfeits were issued dated 1792. The first authentic Wilkinson issues are dated 1787 - the very beginning of late 18th Century token issues. The issues of 1793, like this one here, misspell the name of the Iron Master as Wilkenson (with an 'e' rather than an "i"). Another misspelling on other evasion counterfeits is 'Wilkison'. All issues with Wilkinson spelled wrong, or with reverses other than a Barge, Forge, or Vulcan are contemporary counterfeits. Also note the spelling of 'John' using an 'I' rather than 'J' is because the areas where these were designed to be used were still using Celtic conventions that largely did not use the letter 'J'. Tokens other than with the words "WILLEY SNEDSHILL BERSHAM BRADLEY" on the edge are counterfeit. In some cases these counterfeits were used by other payees (companies) because of their prolific issue and acceptability. Those with unique reverses were probably issued in small quantities for the collector market. It is said that there are 75 varieties that are genuine and 57 varieties that are forgeries. The relative issue quantities of those groups are unknown. Without doing a scientific survey, my anecdotal guess, for example, is that most found on eBay are counterfeit. Sellers rarely include the edge lettering in their descriptions. Never-the-less, counterfeits are collectible, but should have a considerable mark-down, and it's always better to know what you are buying.