Paine & Co Ltd, John Bull Seal, Image by StuE, Found by PWS
Found in the Colchester region, 20mm.
One side has PAINE & Co curved above ST.NEOTS. The other side has an oval annulus with PAINE'S in it's centre and WHEATMEAL in the bottom of the annulus and possibly JOHN BULL in the top but that is not clear (corrected with St Neots museum input - see below).
The following is taken from the Town Council's history of St. Neots "Other industries included Messrs. Paine & Co, Brewers of national repute."
The following is from Wikipedia History of St Neots
"James Paine acquired Foster's brewery in the Market Square in 1831."
From the curators of St Neots museum:-
Paines ran their brewery on the Market Square until 1980s. They also ran a flour mill in Bedford Street, and 'John Bull' malt extract and malted flour seemed to be a particular speciality. We have quite a number of items in the museum collection connected with Paines. There are also records in the County Record Office in Huntingdon. A good general description of the company is given in CF Tebbutt's book 'St. Neots'
