Summary
Steel One Penny Token Die, made by Thomas Stokes, Melbourne, 1862. For tokens issued by Issued by Evans & Foster, Booksellers & Stationers, Melbourne. Hugh C. Evans, aged 47, arrived in Melbourne on board the King Fisher in July 1857. By 1858, Evans had established himself as a 'publisher and bookseller' at 94 Bourke Street East. He ran the business without a partner from this address until 1861. In 1859, 1860 and 1861 he placed advertisements in Melbourne Directories, drawing readers' attention to his 'Cheap book and stationery warehouse.' His services included bookbinding, engraving, copperplate printing, a circulating library and a range of cheap sheet music. In 1861 Evans moved his business to 78 Bourke Street East and made Oswald Foster a partner in the new business. In the Sands and McDougall directory for 1862 they described themselves as 'Booksellers, Stationers and Circulating Library.' The business was not listed after 1867. This die was produced by Stokes and used to strike trade tokens in 1862 and circa 1920 to produce collector pieces..
Previous Collections: National Gallery of Victoria
Physical Description
A steel die 55 mm high with a base diameter of 54 mm and a working surface diameter of 34 mm. The die features the name address and business of the firm which commissioned it: Evans & Foster, 78 Bourke St. East, Melbourne, Bookseller and Stationers. It has suffered a rim chip around 09 to the tops of the letters BOOK.
Obverse Description
At centre in five lines, EVANS / & / FOSTER / 78 / BOURKE ST. / EAST around, BOOKSELLERS & STATIONERS : MELBOURNE : border of beads. There is a die chip along the tops of the letters BOOK.
More Information
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Transfer from National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), 15 Mar 1976
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Date Issued
1862 AD
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Issued By
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Mint
Stokes (Mint), Melbourne, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1862
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Commissioned By
Evans & Foster, Melbourne, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1862
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Previous Collection
Numismatics Collection, National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), pre 1976
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Inscriptions
EVANS & FOSTER 78 BOURKE ST. EAST BOOKSELLERS & STATIONERS MELBOURNE all incuse and mirror
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Denomination
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Series
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Material
Steel
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Classification
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Dimensions
53 mm (Height), 55 mm (Outside Diameter)
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Shape
Cylinder
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References
The Evans and Foster trade token issue was struck with a single obverse die (this object). In 1862 the work began on thin copper blanks (see NU 3700 with no die crack - wt 14.501 g). Later thick blanks were introduced perhaps because the die had cracked NU 3701 - wt. 19.445 g). In about 1920 the die was re-used to make collector pieces linked to a different stock emu die (NU 3699) on all of these I have seen the die crack had caused the rim to break away as can be seen on the die. - John Sharples, 21 Oct 2004.
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Keywords
Bookshops, Libraries, Numismatic Dies, Numismatic Technology, Stationers
