Tokens And Special Purpose Coins Of New Zealand

I happen to have all of those, Princetane, but will defer to your ownership of this thread and hold on to mine for comparisons later.

Meanwhile, here's my beat-up Brown and Duthie penny dated 1866. They were New Plymouth ironmongers, so of course we have yet another view of Taranaki, the Maori name for what is now called Mount Egmont.

Renniks 61; Andrews 50; KM Tn10. 31mm.

The tokens have arrived.

Expect an update in the next few days!

Just for you all my Coombes token, you can read all about him in Daltonista's post on Page 3.



Samuel Coombes Token, 1870 - gFine/VF, some Corrosion
My piece is not quite on Daltonista's level!

Some more Info.
Coombes had stores at Grahamstown (Thames) and Auckland and he owned a whole arcade of shops in Auckland. The coins state he was also a mercer, which meant he sold fabrics. At this time (The 1870s), nearly all fabrics were imported and it was not just for clothing, you woudl need them for manchester, drapes, curtains, tapestries and blankets. No doubt fine materials along with common tweed and sack were also sold.


Coombes Arcade in Black circle - Auckland Museum Photo Collection, photo is early 1900s.

The building on the far right is the only survivor of the arcade. Queen Street saw much rebuilding in the Edwardian period where 2 and 3 storey masonry buildings of the 1870s/80s were bulldozed for 5 - 6 story monstrosities of the 1910s and 1920s, which in turn are now being demolished for faceless glass boxes and cheaply built apartments for students and workers. However a building which is now a Starbucks survives.

Coombes himself looks the proper mid Victorian dandy with his muttonchop sideburns and silk cravat and tie. yet his stern face says all business and that even though he will make you look good and cover your home in organza, order and neatness along with professionalism will prevail.

The coins are copper at 34mm round and were minted by Stokes and Co in Melbourne, a few varieties exist and the coins are quite common. Again most are worn and corroded being copper. Mine is a better than average example. There are 3 major varieties and a possible fourth, these are minor.

Coombes was still trading in 1883 and by 1884 had moved to Ponsonby Road, possibly working there or renting his arcade out. I doubt he had retired as he was still only 46. We have no more info after that, a Births, Deaths and Marriages search reveals nothing, only one who died in 1903 aged 54 - being too young to be our Samuel Coombes.

General comments on the issuers of these tokens

These tokens show the same pattern so far, most issuers were young men, who were on the make and had made enough money, connections and success to commemorate this in metal. Having your own tokens was the pinnacle of achievement of this era.

In many ways this was the pioneer ideal, colonies like New Zealand in the early and mid Victorian era, wanted young men and women who were healthy, intelligent and strong with ambitions, hopes and dreams to build a new utopia on the other side of the world. The poor and needy, along with the rich decadent were not required as they could not thrive in a frontier. The men on these coins were those ideals.

Coombes looks like a GQ foldout for 1871 or Fortune's self made set up for 1863, but I can bet you when he arrived he probably looked very different, dressed in rough sackcloth, with a few bob to his name and waiting for his first opportunity to make his mark.

None went as far as Coombes by having their face on the coins though! Some criticise him for not being in profile as his nose was considered very prominent (According to Roker). Other tokens had generic scenes of Zelandia, Maoris, nature scenes and as you will see Royal Themes.

Still this is an iconic token, and it makes any Kiwi token collection!

Here are my Hurleys, almost a matched set. Renniks lists the penny and halfpenny tokens as #280 and 281, and in Andrews they're #276 and 277, with sizes at 31mm and 25mm, respectively.

Although the practice wasn't universal across all the mid-19th-century token issues, these are pretty typical in that neither date nor denomination are shown. My guess is that by the 1850's any folks using coppers in the colonies would have been fully acclimated by the regal issues and any other coins that were circulating at that time.

Yes - Totally, British Bronze coins like the Penny and Halfpenny only had those words added with the 1860 Bun issue. Some coins like the Halfcrown and Crown remained denominationless much longer (Halfcrown in 1893 and Crowns only in 1927).

Just reinforcing that theme, you showed a Halfpenny of Kirkcaldie and Stains - I have the Penny!



1875 Kirkcaldie and Stains Penny - gVF

It is exactly the same design as the Halfpenny you showed but larger. The size is only 31mm and weighs just 8.7grams, less than a standard bronze penny.

Roker suggests the mans head is possibly that of Mr Kirkcaldie. The pennies and halfpennies of this issuer are very common by our token standards and still easy to get now.

John Kirkcaldie despite the name was English and Robert Stains was Scottish, their first selling endeavours started in the 1860s with them selling the cargo of a wrecked ship(!!). By the time this coin came out (c.1875 and minted by an unknown British mint) they had a 2 storey building. The building in Daltonista's photos dated from the 1900s - however behind this shell was an 1868 brick 3 storey building

https://wellingtoncityheritage.org....rtment-store

This is the original 1860s wooden building you would have walked into to spend your penny and halfpennies!


1860s - Waterloo House, (1860s - 70s photo) source, Stuff.co.nz

Photos of stores from this era are incredibly rare and especially in Wellington, which grew slower than other cities in NZ. It took until 1870 until Wgtn reached 10k of people, whereas the other cities hit that milestone by 1865. No doubt this building with its plate glass windows would have been very imposing in the 1860s and even 1870s. Wellington looked very frontier like until the 1900s. Most of the really old looking buildings there turn out to date from like 1903 rather than 1883.

Very interesting!

My last one of the new tokens and most interesting.

United Service Hotel, Auckland, Penny 1874




United Service Hotel, Auckland - Penny Token 1874 - Copper Cleaned Fine/VG condition.

This one was cheap as its been cleaned and Victoria is worn away to a silhouette.

Unknown British mint and made out of copper. The token is 34mm in size and by the standards of 1874, very basic. The portrait of Victoria is similar to the Young Head seen on 1838 - 1887 Silver and Gold coins, but more crudely executed.

There are two types, United Service Hotel is straight on two lines on one and bowed like on this one. The coin is dated 1874.

The United Service Hotel goes back to the 1850s, but the wooden building burnt down in a nasty fire in Dec 1873 (Some say it was an insurance fraud, as burning down unprofitable hotels was common in early Auckland).

It was rebuilt in beautiful plaster covered brick in 1874, the same year as the token.


United Service Hotel 1880, Source - Early Auckland Images, City Rail Link - https://www.cityraillink.co.nz/earl...land-images/
(You can also see it in 1927 there)

In the 1880s, one of the Hoteliers was charged with doing illegal sweeps (Gambling, racketeering) and fled to Australia. The pub always had a reputation as a central city waterhole and later as a student bar. Today it survives and is an Irish bar in one part, live music bar, an underground pokie bar and Travel Agency and cheap dairy. It is hemmed in by the large 1928/29 Smith and Caugheys Department store.


The Hotel in 2019 before Lockdown closures. - Source google maps.

The elaborate Victorian door and window frames with parapet were removed in the 1930s and 1940s after nearby earthquakes saw this gingerbread Victorian fripperies as dangerous and the building was "Decoised" at the same time.

Unlike the other tokens, we know very little about the issuers - but at least the building survives.