Hop Pickers Token

Hop Pickers Token. The cultivation of hops was a popular industry and it employed labour for almost all the year. At the peak of the picking season many thousands of pickers were required and these mostly came from London’s East End for a “holiday” with work and pay and were known as “furiners”. Payment for picking was arranged using these hop-tokens mostly made from lead and white metal and produced by the local blacksmith. The number “1” shows the number of bushels picked and the initials “J S” are those of the issuer James Smith of Place Farm, Icklesham, Sussex. The tokens were passed as money between the pickers themselves, and were also accepted by the shops and inns in the locality, who were assured that the tokens would be redeemed later by the growers who issued them.