A Cornish jeweller has designed and produced a unique and historic collection of pendants based on copper tokens issued by mining companies and other county organisations in the 18th century.

The pendants are set in a mount of gold or silver alloy which includes Cornish tin salvaged from a ship which went down off Angelsey in 1863. The alloy was created by Sarah Corbridge who incorporates it into a range of items made and sold by Wearne’s Jewellers from their shops in Helston and Falmouth.

Sarah, a member of the Wearne family, bought the tokens from a collector and created a design for a pendant which, she says “represents so much of the history of 18th-century Cornwall.”

They have already stirred up interest. The pendants can be customised and one customer wanted a Cornish mining pick to be part of the design.

“It was truly fabulous,” said Sarah. “It’s always good to listen carefully to customers. They come up with some wonderful ideas.”

One pendant commissioned by a local collector is mounted in Cornish tin and gold and set with diamonds.

With the current excitement generated by the Poldark books and BBC television series, the pendants are expected to find a ready market at home and in Cornish communities overseas.

Towards the end of the eighteenth century tokens were struck by some mine owners and industrialists - to take the place of official coinage which was in short supply nationally. It was not just industrialists who used tokens. They were also distributed to some militias formed in Cornish towns to defend communities from attack during the wars with France.

Generally, the tokens had a face value equivalent to official coinage and could be exchanged for essential goods, although some were struck as commemorative pieces or for the collectors’ market. There were different styles and sizes of tokens. Sarah Corbridge uses eight distinct tokens in her pendants, issued at different times by a range of companies.

Each has a mount of gold or silver which features 15 bezants in either gold or silver alloy around its circumference. “The casting process has been a technical challenge and although it has proved difficult we have now perfected the process and we are delighted with the results,” said Sarah.

“We put the pendants together in our own workshops and with the copper, tin and the tokens themselves all forming a whole, we are pleased to have created something that truly represents the history and character of Cornwall."