sentences:  According to a proclamation dated 26 July 1797, King George III was "graciously pleased to give directions that measures might be taken for an immediate supply of such copper coinage as might be best adapted to the payment of the laborious poor in the present exigency".The proclamation required that the coins weigh one and two ounces respectively, bringing the intrinsic value of the coins close to their face value.With the return of large quantities of government issued small denomination coin (twopence and pennies were minted at the Soho Mint in 1797, and halfpennies and farthings followed in 1799), the need for locally issued token coinage waned.