Obv: Bust to right, ISAAC PERRINS. (around) Rev: BELLA! HORRIDA BELLA! (in center circle), STRENGTH AND MAGNANIMITY. (around). Edge: Plain.
VF. Edge bruise on obverse. Penny.
Isaac Perrins, at 6’2” and seventeen stone (240 lbs.), was the champion boxer of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Worcestershire. He issued a challenge to any man in the country to try and beat him. Even offered a prize of £500! Thomas Johnson, shorter and lighter, took him up on his challenge. What resulted was a fight for the ages, lasting 62 rounds and 75 minutes, that eventually was won by Johnson. Perrins never fought again, but fortunately he was a fine singer, and for a time was the leader of a choir at West Bromwich. The story of his death is equally dramatic. Having entered a house ablaze, he rescued 3 people who otherwise would have perished. Unfortunately, the bitterly cold weather on his overheated and soaked body caused him to develop a severe chill and he died eight days later of a fever. He was fifty years old.