A communion token is a metal token issued to members of Reformed churches in order to provide them entrance to the

Lord's Supper The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

. There were many types issued in Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries, but they were largely superseded by communion cards.

Overview

Communion tokens were first suggested in 1560 by John Calvin and

Pierre Viret Pierre Viret (1509/1510 – 4 April 1571) was a Swiss Reformed theologian, evangelist and Protestant reformer. Early life Pierre Viret was born in 1509 or 1510 in Orbe, then in the Barony of Vaud, now in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. He wa ...

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, and although the city council rejected the practice, the following year their idea was implemented in Nîmes and Le Mans. By 1586 communion tokens were in use at the Walloon church in Amsterdam. However, most were issued in Scotland, where over 5,000 types have been recorded. They were also issued in many other countries, especially Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. Tokens were also issued by Presbyterian churches in Corfu,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, Hartslog, Madeira,

Port Louis Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's e ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

, Berbice,

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state ...

and Kingston, Jamaica. Most tokens are from the 19th century, but R. M. Grieg wrote in 1964 that they were still used by "a few congregations in the

Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia The Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (PCEA) is a small Presbyterian denomination which was formed in Sydney on 10 October 1846 by three ministers and a ruling elder. As of December 2012 it consists of 13 pastoral charges with a total of ...

." Communion tokens were also used in Scottish Episcopal churches. South Leith communion token reverse

The issuing of these tokens is dependent on the practice of

closed communion Closed communion is the practice of restricting the serving of the elements of Holy Communion (also called Eucharist, The Lord's Supper) to those who are members in good standing of a particular church, denomination, sect, or congregation. Though ...

, in which only members of the church are allowed to participate. Raymond Mentzer says that "to avoid profanation of the Eucharist, the elders in the role as moral watchdogs distributed these entry counters to those members of the faithful whom they deemed qualified by virtue of correct belief and proper conduct." The distribution of the tokens would normally be preceded by

catechetical instruction The role of a Catholic catechist is to catechize, catechise (teach) the Catholic theology, faith of the Catholic Church by both word and example. Catechising To catechize means to teach: more specifically, to teach by word of mouth. Prior to th ...

. The

Glens of Antrim The Glens of Antrim,Logainm.ie
(

Lord’s Table were eased, allowing visitors who were members of other denominations, on profession of their faith to communicate." Many tokens have verses on them, such as "This do in remembrance of me" (

1 Corinthians 11 1 Corinthians 11 is the eleventh chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It was authored by Paul the Apostle and Sosthenes in Ephesus. In this chapter, Paul writes on the conduct of Christians w ...

:24) or "Let a man examine himself" (1 Corinthians 11:28). They were made of

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

or another

base metal A base metal is a common and inexpensive metal, as opposed to a precious metal such as gold or silver. In numismatics, coins often derived their value from the precious metal content; however, base metals have also been used in coins in the past ...

, and came in a variety of shapes: round, oval, square or oblong. Earlier tokens had the ministers' initials on them, and many had the name of the church. When the Free Church of Scotland was formed in 1843, many tokens were issued with this year – these were used as stock tokens in many congregations. The

burning bush The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb. According to the ...

is found on many tokens, as are objects such as a

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, communion cup or communion table, or else Christian symbols such as the

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

. The Dunblane Museum has a collection of over 6000 tokens on display at the museum. Communion token moulds

Communion tokens belong to the field of

exonumia Exonumia are numismatic items (such as tokens, medals, or scrip) other than coins and paper money. This includes "Good For" tokens, badges, counterstamped coins, elongated coins, encased coins, souvenir medallions, tags, wooden nickels and ot ...

References

External links

{{commons category, Communion tokens
Communion Tokens of the Established Church of Scotland – Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
by Alexander J. S. Brook Eucharistic objects Exonumia Presbyterian Church organisation Token coins

Overview

See also

References

External links