Shipping and family grocers; wine and spirit merchants, purveyors of concentrated family coffee.

This business is the third in a string of token issuing businesses involving either H.G. Hanks, A. Lloyd, or their descendants. This narrative lays out the associations between the various businesses.

J.G. Hanks joined A. Lloyd to establish 'Hanks and Lloyd, grocers' at 319 George Street in 1855. 'The first Hanks and Lloyd tokens must have been delivered that year. The partners took the opportunity to gain publicity by using their first tokens as commemoratives for the opening of the first Sydney Railway, also that year.' Hanks and Lloyd were expecting another shipment of tokens in 1857, but the ship that was carrying them, the Dunbar, was wrecked at the Gap, in the Sydney Heads. Samuel Peek, another token issuer, and his wife Caroline were on board the Dunbar and drowned when it sank. Although replacement tokens were ordered, they did not arrive until 1858.

By the time the replacements arrived, the company had changed name, becoming Hanks & Co., at the same location, now known as 478 George Street. It seems that Lloyd was still participating in the business, but he had always been the junior partner. Hanks and Lloyd received tokens proclaiming the new company name at almost the same time as the replacements for the lost Hanks and Lloyd tokens.

In 1861 the founder's son, John L. Hanks, opened another 'Tea and Coffee Merchants' business at 558 George Street, trading as J. G. Hanks & Co. The next year he moved to number 520. The junior Hanks' business endured at this address until almost the end of the nineteenth century. J.G. Hanks left his original business in 1863 and joined his son's enterprise.

William F. Lloyd (thought to be the son or nephew of A. Lloyd) and Thomas Metcalfe opened a business in 1863, known as Metcalfe and Lloyd. They traded from Hanks & Lloyd's original premises, 478 George Street. When Lloyd retired in 1866 the new partner's name was included in the title of the renamed business, Metcalfe and Foss. Metcalfe and Foss ceased trading in 1868, but members of the Lloyd family continued in the tea and coffee trade until the 1960s, 'their last shop was in the old Royal Arcade (now demolished).'(May, 2005).

Metcalfe and Lloyd took out a full-page advertisement in Bradshaw's Guide and Almanac for 1864. The advertisement was surmounted by the Australian Arms, with the motto 'Advance Australia' beneath it. The text described them as 'Shipping/ and/ Family Grocers/Purveyors of the CONCENTRATED/ TURKEY COFFEE,/ Roasted and ground by STEAM daily on the premises.'

Metcalfe and Lloyd issued their tokens in 1863. The tokens were struck by a British mint.

References:
May, Tom (1988). 'Tokens of George Street', Australian Numismatist, Special Bicentennial Edition, pp.21-36.
Andrews, Arthur (1921). Australasian Tokens and Coins, p.71.
Advertisement. Bradshaw's Almanac and General Guide for 1864, p.213.
May, Tom (2005). 'The Sydney Firm of Hanks and Lloyd, and its Associated Variations', unpublished MSS, 3pps.

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