1794 AD., England, Shropshire, Shrewsbury, Halfpenny Token, D&H 25d.

England, Shropshire, Shrewsbury, 1794 AD.,
Æ Halfpenny Token (29 mm / 10,39 g),
Obv.: SHREWSBURY - 1794 - HALFPENNY , shield of arms of Shrewsbury: three lionheads.
Rev.: SALOP WOOLEN MANUFACTORY * , a woolpack.
Edge: PAYABLE AT LONDON LiVERPOOL OR BRISTOL • - •
D&H 25d .

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is home to 70,689 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council. Nearby is the village of Wroxeter, 5 miles (8 km) to the south-west, where the now ruined Roman city of Viroconium Cornoviorum lies. Viroconium was the fourth largest civitas capital in Roman Britain.
The town was known to the ancient Britons as Pengwern, signifying "the alder hill"; and to the Anglo-Saxons as Scrobbesburh (dative Scrobbesbyrig), which has several meanings; "fort in the scrub-land region", "Scrobb's fort", "shrubstown" or "the town of the bushes". This name was gradually corrupted in three directions, into 'Sciropscire' which became Shropshire, into 'Sloppesberie', which became Salop/Salopia (the historical name for the county), and into 'Schrosberie' which eventually became the name of the county town, Shrewsbury. Its Welsh name Amwythig means "fortified place".
Shrewsbury is known as a town with significant medieval heritage, having been founded ca. 800 AD. It was during the late Middle Ages (14th/15th Centuries) when the town was at its height of commercial importance. This was mainly due to the wool trade, a major industry at the time, with the rest of Britain and Europe, especially with the River Severn and Watling Street as trading routes.
Over the ages, the geographically important town has been the site of many conflicts, particularly between the English and Welsh. Shrewsbury was the seat of the Princes of Powis for many years; however, the Angles, under King Offa of Mercia, took possession of it in 778. The Welsh again besieged it in 1069, but were repelled by William the Conqueror. Roger de Montgomery was given the town as a gift from William, and built Shrewsbury Castle in 1074, taking the title of Earl. The 3rd Earl, Robert of Bellême was deposed in 1102, in consequence of taking part in the rebellion against Henry I. In 1403, the Battle of Shrewsbury took place a few miles north of the town centre, at Battlefield; it was fought between King Henry IV and Henry Hotspur, with the King emerging victorious, an event celebrated in William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Act 5.
Shrewsbury has also played a part in Western intellectual history, by being the town in which the naturalist Charles Darwin was born and raised.