Summary

Steel Halfpenny token die, made by Kangaroo Office, Melbourne, circa 1854. For T.W. Thomas & Co, Grocers, Melbourne. T.W. Thomas and Co. opened a grocer's business during 1854 in Melbourne. An advertisement for 'T.W. Thomas and Co., Old East India Stores, corner of Bourke and Swanston Streets' appeared in The Argus, Monday 23 April 1855, p.3 stock included: Teas, Coffees, Sugar, sauces, oils, pickles, vinegar, soaps, rice, jellies, cheese, matches, hams, spices, coconuts, starches, pasta (macaroni and vermicelli) and tinned fish. Thomas & Co is said to have become insolvent while trading in Melbourne, and during a meeting he is alleged to have threatened to drive his creditors into the street with a horse whip. Thomas is thought to have returned to Tasmania after 1859.

This was one of the earliest dies manufactured in Melbourne by the Kangaroo Office. It was used with a reverse die that commemorated the arrival of Sir Charles Hotham in Victoria

Previous Collections: National Gallery of Victoria

Physical Description

A steel die 54 mm high with a main diameter of 50 mm and a working surface diameter of 27 mm. The die features the name, city and business of the firm: T.W. THOMAS & Co., MELBOURNE, GROCER. It has some rust pitting, particularly around the centre of the working surface.

Obverse Description

The die features the name, city and business of the firm in three lines, the first and last curved: T.W. THOMAS & CO / GROCER / MELBOURNE all incuse mirror.

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