Posted 11/22/2011 12:22 am
I believe your Agriculture & Commerce BAS CANADA / Banque Du Peuple UN SOL Montreal token is from 1838. Here is some info I believe pertains to your token.
"What you have is a Canadian Colonial Token. Before Great Britain allowed Canada to mint their own coinage, the only coins that they had for circulation were US and foreign (usually Mexican, Spanish, French and Brit) mintages. To allow for commerce, banks and private mints struck penny and halfpenny tokens and they were readily used on both sides of the border back then. "Sou" is the denomination (in French). "Bas Canada" is Lower Canada (usually Montreal and environs) to distinguish it from Upper Canada (Ontario) as they were called at the time. Lower Canada was almost entirely French, while Upper was British or American/European.
Your token was issued in 1837 or 1838 by that bank and there are two distinct types. One is called the "Arnault issue" and the other the "Belleville Issue". The Arnault issue has a Charlton designation/number of LC-4A1 or 2 and is distinguished by a maple leaf directly above the "Un" in Un Sou. The LC4A1 is medal axis while the LC-4A2 is coinage axis .. the medal is the scarcer of the 2. The Belleville issue (LC-5A1, 2, or 3) is characterized by a leaf wreath that has a gap directly above the "Un". They are not scarce, but you don't see them every day either. An F graded coin is $40 for the medal axis and $20 for the coinage axis for the Arnault. The Belleville issue has a scarce variety where the leaf wreath is open and not connected above the "Un" and they get pricey real fast. The commonest Belleville has the wreath closed above the "Un" by a line and is worth less than $10 full retail in VF condition. There were many many different types and varieties of the Bank du Peuple different tokens and most DO have token on them. There are many many collectors of Canadian tokens, but they are nice to keep. The prices quoted are full retail, so you will not get that from a dealer.
***EDIT*** Deleted the link to another forum. I did not realize it was in the post.
"What you have is a Canadian Colonial Token. Before Great Britain allowed Canada to mint their own coinage, the only coins that they had for circulation were US and foreign (usually Mexican, Spanish, French and Brit) mintages. To allow for commerce, banks and private mints struck penny and halfpenny tokens and they were readily used on both sides of the border back then. "Sou" is the denomination (in French). "Bas Canada" is Lower Canada (usually Montreal and environs) to distinguish it from Upper Canada (Ontario) as they were called at the time. Lower Canada was almost entirely French, while Upper was British or American/European.
Your token was issued in 1837 or 1838 by that bank and there are two distinct types. One is called the "Arnault issue" and the other the "Belleville Issue". The Arnault issue has a Charlton designation/number of LC-4A1 or 2 and is distinguished by a maple leaf directly above the "Un" in Un Sou. The LC4A1 is medal axis while the LC-4A2 is coinage axis .. the medal is the scarcer of the 2. The Belleville issue (LC-5A1, 2, or 3) is characterized by a leaf wreath that has a gap directly above the "Un". They are not scarce, but you don't see them every day either. An F graded coin is $40 for the medal axis and $20 for the coinage axis for the Arnault. The Belleville issue has a scarce variety where the leaf wreath is open and not connected above the "Un" and they get pricey real fast. The commonest Belleville has the wreath closed above the "Un" by a line and is worth less than $10 full retail in VF condition. There were many many different types and varieties of the Bank du Peuple different tokens and most DO have token on them. There are many many collectors of Canadian tokens, but they are nice to keep. The prices quoted are full retail, so you will not get that from a dealer.
***EDIT*** Deleted the link to another forum. I did not realize it was in the post.
Edited by cladhunter13
11/22/2011 02:01 am
11/22/2011 02:01 am
