As I understand it, they're classifiable as "official coins" because their issue was authorized and backed by the colonial government. The word "token" was included on the coins because the government itself wasn't sure it had the authority to make actual "coins" without offending the Powers That Be back in Britain, so they called them "tokens" just to be safe. Once they formally got permission to issue coins, they issued a second series in 1854, identical in design but with the word "currency" instead of "token".
You should find them listed in the 1800's Krause.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis