Thomas Hatfield was a boot and shoe maker at No. 5 King-street, Snow Hill, London. The diesinker engraved I instead of T, and also appears to have made a strange mistake in adding a second G to leg.

A Golden Leg was a sign usually adopted by hosiers, and in common with other trade signs, dates to the time of Charles I, who empowered the citizens of London in a Charter 'to hang out signs for the better finding out their respective dwellings'. These signs were fastened to posts by the roadside, or slung across narrow thoroughfares, though they were generally hung from the side of the building over the footpath. They proved, however, a nuisance, either from falling into decay, or from being hung too low, and by an Act of Parliament in 1762 they had to be removed, or fixed flat against the side of the shop. In 1764 the numbering of houses began, the first street being New Burlington, and then the main purpose of signs disappeared, though some old-fashioned traders clung to them for many years. The only trade sign commonly found to-day is the barber's pole.

The sign of the Golden Leg on the present piece may indicate that Hatfield acquired a property once owned by a hosier, and retained the old sign as a landmark. ~ Tradesmen's Tickets And Private Tokens, R. C. Bell