The Auckland Licensed Victuallers Association issued penny tokens celebrating the formation of their organisation in 1871, and provided coins for giving change to hotel patrons in the city. According to a report quoted by numismatist H.A. Robinson, up to fifty per cent of copper coins in circulation in New Zealand at that time were trade tokens, a response to a deep shortage of official currency in the country. Robinson's research found that in 1873 the Licensed Victuallers 'used to meet at the British Hotel, corner of Queen and Durham Streets, where the Auckland Power Board building now stands.'

The New Zealand Licensed Victuallers Association, of which the Auckland association was a part, joined the Hospitality Association of New Zealand in the late twentieth century. For further details, see the history section of the Association's website.

Birmingham medalist and mint-owner Joseph Moore is thought to have struck the association's tokens in 1871.

References:
Robinson, H.A. (1974). 'Auckland Tradesmen's Tokens', The New Zealand Numismatic Journal, May, pp.140-141.
Andrews, A. (1921). Australasian Tokens and Coins, pp.15, 65-66.
History Section of the HANZ Association's website: http://www.hanz.org.nz/index.cfm/About_HANZ/100_Years_of_Hospitality

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