A Pair Of Canadian "Blacksmith" Tokens

The Wood 23 varieties were described by Warren Baker in the Jeffrey Hoare auction, Fall 1989, of the Ernest Everingham Collection of Canadian Blacksmith Coppers.

Silver101, you mirror my thoughts exactly. It is the diversity of circulating specie during that era that draws my interest to Canadian colonial tokens, and more generally, the coppers of North America through the 18th and 19th centuries.

Also I believe Canadian banks did accept them (at least some varieties) up to a certain point. McLachlan's A Hoard of Canadian Coppers (1889) describes a hoard of tokens set aside by the Bank of Montreal around 1837. At this time, leading merchants (and thus the banks) had started to reject the inferior and "spurious" tokens that formed the bulk of circulating specie. Included in McLachlan's descriptions are "Imitations of Worn Coppers of George II" which no doubt are, in whole or in part, referencing the classic Canadian Blacksmiths (ie. Wood 1-18). These formed some 500 examples out of the ~5000 examined.

Also described are "Imitations of Irish Coppers", the "Glorious III Vis Copper" (Wood 33), Blacksmith issues of the Ships Colonies and Commerce series, and other varieties of Canadian tokens. An interesting read that is easily found on the web!

blksmith, I have not been able to come across that reference on the internet. Any idea where I might be able to locate it?