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Message:: [QUOTE="Conder101, post: 3974328, member: 66"]Change. They filled the need for circulating change.  Remember Canada, as a country, didn't exist until 1858 and even then just as a confederation of loosely connected territories/provinces and except for a modest 1858 coinage, didn't get their own coinage until the 1870's, and even that was supplied from overseas.  Before that they used coins from other countries, probably mostly Britain and the US.  When we had out hard times in 1837 coinage dried up here and there.  In the 1850's it was probably caused by the copper in the US on cent being worth more than a cent, and then in 1857 the downsizing of the US cent (Canada used a large sized cent until 1920.)  During the 1860's and early 1870's while coins were being hoarded in the US, a lot of them went to Canada and circulated there, which is probably why Canada didn't start regular coinage unto 1876 after the US coins went back home. Many of these tokens were made at the Soho Mint (some of the last coinage of the Boulton and Watt firm) Birmingham England.[/QUOTE]