Please forgive me for being a novice. I am going through bags of old coins and found one with Banque Du Peuple at the top, UN SOU in the center, and MONTREAL at the bottom. The other side had AGRICULTURE & COMMERCE at the top and BAS CANADA. My Internet research turned up similar coins that also had "TOKEN" on them, which mine does not. Seems to be copper; has no date.I have no idea how to rate it. There is wear on the coin where I put my thumb when I hold it. The floral surrounding the UN SOU is dense and does not look like any of the pictures I have seen. Can anyone guide me to where I can read about it?
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.
Thanks for the information Bill. While I don't collect Canadian issues, I do have an interest in them so you've taught me a few things I didn't know. I appreciate it. Martha: Would still like to see your token if you can get a pic of it. Thanks. Bruce
There are a number of different types of the Agriculture and Coomerce Lower Canada tokens. The 1837 Arnault and the 1838 Belleville issues (they are towns) are the only 2 that don't say "token" somewhere on them. There are also a good number of 'Banque Du Peuple" tokens that have side or front views of the bank itself. Colonial tokens are a collecting area all to its own. There are a great number of them, they abound with varieties, and some are very very scarce. It's really neat collecting area.
Pictures of Bas Canada Un Sou Coin Here are pictures of the front and back of the Bas Canada Un Sou coin.
Yours is the common 1838 Belleville issue (Belleville is about 2/3 of the way between Toronto and Kinston) with the connected wreath. The 1837 Arnault issue has a different leaf arrangement and a large maple leaf is directly above the "Un".
