Going through my unlabeled coppers, I found some Canadian provincial coins and tokens. These are in a bit rough shape, I'm afraid. I like the contrast between the large, UK penny-sized tokens and the later official cents issued by various provinces when Canada switched to a dollar-denominated system. From top L: 1856 1 penny token, Nova Scotia 1864 1 cent, Nova Scotia 1854 1 penny token, New Brunswick 1864 1 cent, New Brunswick Anyway, if you have any pairs of coins from the same issuer denominated in both pennies and cents, please post if you like! Half pennies and cents count too. UK doesn't quite work, as they didn't switch to cents, but instead changed to a decimalized new penny worth 1/100th of a pound instead of 1/240th.
They weren't, I don't think. I just phrased my earlier post sloppily. I was just trying to say they were issued in the same area. But you're right, almost all of these early Canadian tokens were made by private issuers.
Understood - I thought it odd that the Nova Scotia government would call officially issued coins 'token'. The only other one I can think of off the top of my head is the Newfoundland $2/100 pence coins, though I don't have one myself.
Canadian Provincial Cents, from top L: Newfoundland 1873, 1938 New Brunswick 1861 Nova Scotia 1864 Prince Edward Island 1871 It looks like 4 provinces issued official coinage before union with Canada. For large cents, small cents and half cents: Newfoundland: Large Cent 1865-1936 Small Cent 1938-1947 New Brunswick: Half Cent 1861 Large Cent 1861-1864 Nova Scotia: Half Cent 1861-1864 Large Cent 1861-1864 Prince Edward Island: Large Cent 1871 I don't have any provincial half cents, but I've posted examples of the rest above. There are a bewildering variety of tokens (and varieties of each token!), but I don't think any provinces issued official penny-denominated coins. I'll take photos of some of my tokens and post them soon.
Prince Edward Island Halfpenny Tokens "Ships Colonies & Commerce" ND ~1830-35 "Self Government and Free Trade" 1853, 1857
Nova Scotia Tokens Trade & Navigation Halfpenny 1813 George IV Halfpenny 1823-32 (Underweight. should be 9.0 g but is 6.0. Imitation?) Victoria Halfpenny 1843 Victoria Halfpenny 1856 Victoria Penny 1856
Some Quebec Halfpenny Tokens Bank of Montreal 1842 Halfpenny Token Province du Canada 1852 Halfpenny = Un Sou Token Quebec was conquered from France during the Seven Years' War, around 1760. This was before the French Revolution, so the the old denomination of sous survived for quite a while longer than in France. Dual-denominated as both a halfpenny and one sou.
Upper Canada tokens (Upper Canada refers to the position relative to the St. Lawrence River, so Upper Canada was actually southeast of Lower Canada. Actually Upper Canada ceased to officially exist as a province in 1841, when it was merged with Lower Canad to form the Province of Canada. But the name stuck around for a while.) 1852 Penny Token (L), 1857 Halfpenny Token (R) These soft copper tokens seem very vulnerable to rim damage, especially on the larger ones. Anything with the lettering and design clearly visible I'm happy with.
Five more tokens, from Lower Canada (approximately, Quebec) From top L: ND (1835) Halfpenny Bank Token, Montreal 1837 Halfpenny Bank Token, City Bank ND (1838?) Halfpenny Token, Montreal 1842 Halfpenny Token, Bank of Montreal (repeat from post above) After 1841 Lower Canada had merged with Upper to become part of the Province of Canada
Three more early Canada Tokens (pre-1841) From L: Upper Canada Brock Halfpenny Token, 1816 He died in the war of 1812 fighting the Americans Lower Canada 1825 Halfpenny Trade Token Upper Canada 1833 Halfpenny Trade Token That's all for now. Thanks for looking!
