When official coinage was finally struck by the various pre-confederation colonial provinces they had already recognized slightly different standards, sometimes as much as a 20 percent difference in value. The first coins struck in the name of Canada were produced by the Province of Canada. This was the collective name for Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec). Bronze cents and silver 5-cent, 10-cent, and 20-cent pieces were struck in 1858-1859. In the intervening years before these two provinces combined with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to form the independent Canadian confederation in 1867, all of them had struck their own coins. Despite this complexity of coinage, a shortage of small change still persisted. Neither bank tokens nor poorly made “blacksmith” counterfeits could be suppressed. http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=25336
