Summary

Steel One Penny Token Die, made by Thomas Stokes, Melbourne, 1862. For tokens issued by J. Hosie, The Scotch Pie, Melbourne. James Hosie came to Melbourne in 1853 from Leith, Scotland. Hosie initially worked as a shoemaker, in Melbourne at the Western Markets and at the gold fields at Mount Blackwood. He returned to Melbourne and opened a shop, his father opened a pie shop next door and his success led James to follow suit. He was successful enough to move to better premises and then open both a hotel (the Baths Hotel) and Hosie's Baths, which were both successful businesses. Hosie invested heavily in land speculation at places such as Apollo Bay and Altona Bay. Unfortunately the boom burst and he had to go back to the mainspring of his wealth: selling pies. His last shop was in Little Collins Street. He died on March 30 1900, having made and lost a fortune, still running his pie shop.

This is one of three obverse dies employed to strike trade tokens for Hosie's Pie shop in 1862.

Previous Collections: National Gallery of Victoria

Physical Description

A steel die 52 mm high with a main diameter of 56 mm and a working surface diameter of 35 mm. The die features the name, address and business of the firm which commissioned it: J. Hosie, 10 & 12 Bourke St. East Melbourne, The Scotch Pie Shop. A small pictorial element, a thistle, occurs between the name and address.

Obverse Description

The die features at centre within a line circle J. HOSIE 10 & 12 BOURKE ST. EAST around, THE SCOTCH PIE SHOP : MELBOURNE : (all Incuse and retrograde); a small pictorial element, a thistle, occurs between the name and address.

Significance

This is one of three obverse dies employed to strike trade tokens for Hosie's Pie shop in 1862. In the museum token storage system it is called Obverse A.

More Information