A token found at Lyme Regis, Dorset, England, apparently associated with Mary Anning (1799–1847), fossil collector

Abstract

A lettered metal disc bearing the date 1810 and found on the beach at Lyme Regis appears, but cannot conclusively be proven, to be a childhood possession of the young Mary Anning (1799–1847), later the famous fossil collector whose name and age it bears. An alternative, but problematical, possibility is that it is a retrospective commemorative token produced for sale to tourists in later years.