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Help Identifying Some Canadian Colonial Tokens

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Author Replies: 5 / Views: 87Next Topic  
New Member

Canada
2 Posts
 Posted Today  3H 41M ago Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add overtonrecords to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
Hi folks! I collected coins throughout my childhood and did a lot of buying from dealers' 25-cent bins at shows. Over the years I've gotten rid of most of my coins, but hung onto these early Canadian tokens because I find them so interesting. Just recently I pulled them out of a box and looked at them for the first time in years, reading up on the history of each piece. It's fascinating and very cool to be able to hold these in my hand and think about the lives and places they passed through.
Help-Identifying-Some-Canadian-Colonial-Tokens

However there are a few pieces in this little collection that I haven't been able to identify, so I wondered if anyone here would recognize them. The first appears similar to some Upper Canada bank tokens with St. George on one side and various emblems on the other side, except that the legends on both sides are scratched off. It looks to me like the legends were erased on the dies, as the 'scrapes' appear to be raised on the coin. The second has a script design on one side and a seated Britannia on the other. The script side looks similar to some documented tokens, but I haven't found a match for this one.

As for the third piece... well, all I can say is that they must have been reallllly desperate if this ever actually circulated! But it's a fun oddball that seems to fit into this collection.

Any info is welcome!

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Edited by overtonrecords
Today 3H 28M ago
Valued Member
United States
288 Posts
 Posted Today  1H 8M ago  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jdsstrat to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
The second one with the hole looks like this Irish halfpenny...

https://en.numista.com/13479

Edited by jdsstrat
Today 1H 3M ago
Valued Member
United States
288 Posts
 Posted Today  54M ago  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jdsstrat to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
The first one looks to be either a Bank of Upper Canada halfpenny or penny. It would depend on the mass and diameter of your tokens. Compare them to the following...

https://en.numista.com/1898

and

https://en.numista.com/1121

Then let us know.
New Member
Canada
2 Posts
 Posted Today  48M ago  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add overtonrecords to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks jdsstrat, definitely right on the Irish halfpenny. A quick google showed that those did circulate in early Canada (though of course there's no way to know if the token came to Canada 200 years ago or a week before I bought it).

The one with the Bank of Canada design is halfpenny sized. I am just confused because what looks like surface damage around the edges is actually raised compared to the backdrop. Possibly one of those imitation tokens with no legend so they couldn't be accused of counterfeiting?
Valued Member
United States
288 Posts
 Posted Today  46M ago  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jdsstrat to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
The last one appears to have been counterstamped by its owner, as if he had this worn out old coin and needed a penny so he created one himself.
Valued Member
United States
288 Posts
 Posted Today  35M ago  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jdsstrat to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I will defer to others for an explanation of the damage to your tokens. I don't think it has anything to do with a counterfeiter's concerns though, as I'm fairly certain these sorts of tokens were tolerated maybe even encouraged by the British government because of widespread shortages. Your halfpenny may have even been made at The Royal Mint!
  Replies: 5 / Views: 87Next Topic  

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