Not sure if this is an ancient enough coin for posting on this forum, however I will start here and see where it goes... This is a British? or Canadian? halfpenny token that I came across with a bust of Arthur Wellesley- the Duke of Wellington: twice prime minister of Great Britain and well known as a commander in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 leading to the defeat of Napoleon.. Anyway can someone tell me what significance the names & dates have on the reverse of this coin?? And which date indicates the minting year if there is one???
Looks like the token was issued in 1812. lower Canadien provinces. https://en.ucoin.net/coin/canadian_provinces-1-2-penny-1812/?tid=121724
I would suggest starting here.. THE WELLINGTON TOKENS RELATING TO CANADA EUGENE G. COURTEAU American Journal of Numismatics (1897-1924) Vol. 48 (1914), pp. 137-146 (14 pages) free online here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43587812?seq=1 The names and dates on the reverse memorialize military victories under Wellington's command in Spain..
The British portable finds data base (finds.org.uk/database) show that two of these coins have been found by detectorists, both in separate locations in Lincolnshire (the county just across the River Humber from Hull). The FLO (British Museum Finds Liason Officer) identifies them as having been produced by J K Picard of Hull in 1813, so it seems to me quite likely that theywere made in England and shipped in large quantities to Canada. It is also of interest to note that the battle of Vimeiro on 21st August 1808 is spelled as VIMTERA. I haven't looked through the press of the day, but in the Army Lists some 30 years later,Lord Raglan (he of the Charge of the Light Brigade) is listed as having received the Peninsular Silver War Medal with five clasps including one for Vimiera, Vimtera and Vintera - all three variations are found
I kinda figured that those had something to do with specific battles, however I had never heard of any of them, thanks for that confirmation..!