Token, 1803

In the early 19th century theatre tickets were not printed on paper unless the performance was for a Benefit, when the beneficiary received a percentage of the profits. For everyday performances tickets were in the form of brass or copper metal checks, which were purchased when patrons entered the theatre, and surrendered to 'check takers' as they went into the auditorium. Shareholders in some theatres even received beautifully chased and engraved silver tickets which allowed them free entry for a specified number of years.

Ivory tickets, or bones, were introduced in the late 1780s and were given to actors to act as free passes for certain nights and subscribers received ivories or bones which they bought with their names and the season inscribed on them. Unlike the metal checks, these were kept by their owners for the entire season and scrutinised when they got to the theatre. They usually had a hole pierced in them through which a ribbon was inserted so the subscriber hung it on to his lapel, much as a card pass to an enclosure at a race meeting is today.

This is either a metal ticket or a commemorative token, struck for the Ipswich Theatre in Suffolk in 1803. The fact that it has not been engraved on the reverse above the date shows that it would not have been used. Circular copper token for Ipswich Theatre, obverse: 'IPSWICH THEATRE' above which is seen a swag of curtain, and below, a swag of greenery with a rose. Reverse: '1803'