Lately I've been feeling a bit of a copper bug, and a bit of wistfulness for my homeland. So, with that in mind I decided to pick up something Canadian and take a break from my Dansco 7070. But what to collect? Frankly, early Canadian coins are a bit boring, and the Maple Leaf through Voyageur Dollar series is a bit played out. However, early Canadian tokens provide a lot of variety of designs, and I can incorporate large cents from Canada, PEI, NB and NS. I bought this Nova Scotia Halfpenny (I think I'll stick with halfpennies as they're similar in size to the cents, and I could expand such a collection to US cents, hard times tokens, or UK halfpennies and conders. ICCS graded this at XF45. Woo, OK. I'll take it. A nice glossy espresso bean patina, and lovely details.
I actually enjoy the older Canadian pennies, nickels and dimes from the late 19th and early twentieth century. It is neat how the nickels were silver and very small, the Pennies were big in comparison and the dimes were beautifully designed. I have the 1859 large cent and it is one of my favorite Canadian coins in my possession. Sorry pics are blurry. They are in adhesive holders.
The first ever coin I bought in a coin shop was an 1859 Large Cent at Forest City Coin in London Ontario in 1994. Fun fact. I should like to buy another one one day soon. EDIT: make that 1993. I remember Soul Asylum's Runway Train being number one on the radio at the time.
Darkhorse - That is one beautiful token. I really like the variety of the portraits in the early Victorian Canadian tokens. I like the style in this one of yours, with the different type of crown. Here is the first Canadian token I ever purchased. An 1854 Bank of Upper Canada Half Penny token. I really like the design, I have always liked the 'St. George slaying the dragon' image, and the crossed sword and anchor above the cornucopiae are pretty cool. I got it from my local coin shop in or around 2007 for $4 USD I believe. I also include pictures of the first Victorian Canadian large cent I ever bought. 1899, pretty nice, aside from the bit of wear on the reverse center. But a good portrait, and thats what drew me to it. I think I paid a dollar or two for that one, also around 2007. Quite a deal, but the coin shop I frequent doesn't seem to have a large market for Canadian coppers, so I sometimes find good deals there. Again, gorgeous coin, thanks for sharing it with us, it is much enjoyed and appreciated.
