Summary
Copper one Penny Token, minted by Stokes & Son of Melbourne. Issued by Henry J. Hall, Christchurch, New Zealand. This token is a late strike, it was struck, circa 1920. Henry Hall was a grocer, wine and spirit merchant and ran a coffee mill. He arranged for two mints to strike tokens, W.J. Taylor in London, and Stokes in Melbourne. In both cases the mint retained the dies and later employed them to manufacture restrikes of original pieces, new combinations of dies and, in Taylor's case, mules with dies from other token issuers. Hall issued nineteen penny token varieties, and three halfpennies. They were very simply designed, with text and no graphic elements.
Physical Description
A round copper token (34 mm diameter). The token features the name and business of the issuer: H.J. Hall, Christchurch coffee mills, family grocer, wine and spirit merchant. It is a late strike from corroded dies and has been cleaned and varnished.
Obverse Description
Across centre, H.J. HALL around above and below, CHRISTCHURCH COFFEE MILLS the stops after H and J are square, the die was much corroded resulting in extensive raised surface spotting.
Reverse Description
Across centre, H.J. HALL around above and below, FAMILY GROCER : WINE & SPIRIT MERCHANT :
Edge Description
Plain
Significance
Hall arranged for two mints to strike tokens, W.J. Taylor in London (characterised by bars above and below the name), and later by Stokes in Melbourne. In both cases the mint retained the dies and later employed them to manufacture restrikes of original pieces, new combinations of dies and, in Taylor's case, mules with dies from other token issuers. This piece is from the dies that remained at Stokes and were used for re-strikes and concoctions in about 1920. This token is one of those late strikes, characterized by extensive rusting of the obverse die. See notes tab for details of die identification. This die combination, H/9 probably only occurs as a late strike.
More Information
-
Collection Names
-
Collecting Areas
-
Acquisition Information
Transfer from National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Mr Alfred Chitty, 15 Mar 1976
-
Date Issued
circa 1920 AD
-
Issued By
-
Mint
Stokes & Sons, Melbourne, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, circa 1920
-
Commissioned By
Henry J Hall - Christchurch Coffee Mills, Christchurch, Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand, circa 1920
-
Previous Collection
-
Inscriptions
Obverse: H.J. HALL CHRISTCHURCH COFFEE MILLS Reverse: H.J. HALL FAMILY GROCER WINE & SPIRIT MERCHANT
-
Denomination
-
Series
-
Material
Copper
-
Axis
12
-
Classification
-
Category
-
Discipline
-
Type of item
-
Dimensions
34 mm (Outside Diameter), 13.219 g (Weight)
-
Shape
Round
-
References
Hall employed two mints to strike his tokens, W.J. Taylor and Stokes. Both firms later reused the dies to make restrikes and concoctions for collectors. This token is a Stokes late strike for details of Taylor's products, referred to in the catalogues as 'with bars' see NU 3781. This is a Stokes product 'without bars' the dies are: Obverse H.J. HALL Stops after H.J. G 26.1 mm round H 23.2 mm square Reverse H.J. HALL Stops after H.J. Other 7 23.0 mm round J tilted left L of HALL above middle of N 8 23.8 mm round 9 23.0 mm round J upright L of HALL to bottom on N 10 22.0 mm round
[Book] Andrews, Arthur. 1921. Australasian Tokens and Coins., No. 180
[Book] Heyde, Gilbert C. & Skinner, Dion H. 1967. Unofficial Coins of Colonial Australia and New Zealand., No. 92/4
[Book] Lampard, William H. 1981. Catalogue of New Zealand Coins Tokens Bank Notes.
[Book] Humberstone, Vaughn. 2010. Merchants Making Money.
-
Keywords