Summary

Copper one Penny Surcharged Token, minted by Heaton & Sons, 1857. Issued by Hide & De Carle, Grocers & Wine Merchants, Melbourne, 1857. Surcharged 'T heart D'.

Thomas Hide and Edward De Carle formed a partnership in 1857. They had both been running their own businesses in Melbourne for several years beforehand. They founded a Grocery, Wine and Spirit merchant's business on Elizabeth Street, which lasted until 1861. Their business also included a land and estate agency. Hide and De Carle issued a total of 16 types of penny and half penny tokens, eight in 1857 and eight in 1858. All the tokens were struck by Heaton and Sons of Birmingham.

Physical Description

A round copper token (34 mm diameter) giving the name address and business of the issuer: Hide & De Carle, Elizabeth St. Melbourne, Grocers and wine merchants.. The token features at centre of the obverse a male lion standing to left with head crowned facing front, its right paw is raised and rests on a shield bearing the Union Jack, its tail curved back over its body. On the reverse a female figure representing Justice seated on a wool bale with legs to left but her head and upper body to front. A wine barrel lies on the ground behind her, its end decorated with a cross to hint at a Union Jack (as found beside Britannia on the copper coins of the period). A three-masted sailing ship sails to the right on the horizon to the left. Justice wears a blindfold and extends a balanced set of scales with her right hand. With her left she holds an inverted cornucopia from which fruits flow onto the ground. She wears an ancient-style of flowing dress bound at the waist, her left arm bare and right draped to near the elbow. It bears the date 1857. The reverse has been surcharged with T D seperated by a heart.

Obverse Description

At centre within two concentric rings of text devided by a beaded circle, a male lion standing to left with head crowned facing front, its right paw is raised and rests on a shield bearing the Union Jack, its tail curved back over its body. Around, .HIDE & DE CARLE. GROCERS & WINE MERCHANTS / . ELIZABETH STREET . MELBOURNE

Reverse Description

female figure representing Justice seated on a wool bale with legs to left but her head and upper body to front. A wine barrel lies on the ground behind her, its end decorated with a cross to hint at a Union Jack (as found beside Britannia on the copper coins of the period). A three-masted sailing ship sails to the right on the horizon to the left. Justice wears a blindfold and extends a balanced set of scales with her right hand. With her left she holds an inverted cornucopia from which fruits flow onto the ground. She wears an ancient-style of flowing dress bound at the waist, her left arm bare and right draped to near the elbow. Around above; MELBOURNE, VICTORIA. in exergue; 1857. The token is surcharged with T a heart D

Edge Description

Plain

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