Edward Reece was born in Shropshire, England, but left his father's farm to work in Birmingham's hardware trade. He bought stock there and then departed for New Zealand, arriving in Lyttleton in August 1855. He established his business the following year. He was sufficiently successful to open additional stores in Christchurch and Fiji. Reece was a member of the first Christchurch municipal council in 1862. He managed his store until 1879 when he passed the business on to his son, William. He died in 1887.

The company was still trading in 1950, when the Canterbury Branch of the Numismatic Society of New Zealand wrote their history of Reece and his business. The business did not appear to be trading under that name in 2005.

Reece issued three penny and three halfpenny tokens, struck for him by Thomas Stokes of Melbourne. The tokens are undated but the Museum Victoria catalogue gives the date of issue for all six varieties of tokens as circa 1860.

References:
Canterbury Branch of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand (1950). They Made their Own Money: The Story of Early Canterbury Traders & their Tokens, pp.13-17.

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