A brief history of J. Caro & Co., Ironmongers, was published in They Made their Own Money, a volume on the token-issuing businesses of Christchurch, New Zealand.

It states that this business was established in 1860 in High Street, Christchurch, next to the town hall. The founder, J. Caro, sold it to Solomon Nashelski and his nephew in 1864. The business traded as S&H Nashelski until 1876, when it became S. Nashelski. In 1880 it was sold to Edward E. Ashby and L. Bergh, and it became a limited liability company in 1899. The business was still trading in 1950 when They Made their Own Money was published.

In addition to trading as ironmongers, advertisements published in the brief history suggest that, in the late nineteenth century, the company was in the building trade, actually constructing buildings as well as selling the fittings for them.

During the first years of the company, J. Caro & Co issued two varieties of penny tokens, made for them by Thomas Stokes of Melbourne. The tokens are undated but must have been issued between 1860 and 1864.

References:
The 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.18-23.

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