Item NU 18885 Token - 1 Penny, Cast, A. Toogood, Merchant, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, circa 1855

Summary

Brass One Penny Cast Token, possibly created by Whitty, circa 1855. Based on Penny Token issued by A. Toogood, Merchant, Sydney. Cast trade tokens are probably best all considered counterfeits. Exceptions might be cast examples of the Whitty & Brown trade tokens. Whitty was a brass founder, Brown and engraver. After dissolution of their partnership, Whitty continued to produce crudely cast pieces which were accepted as currency equally with struck tokens "the public being not in the least particular"' Dr. Mark Long. Spinks' Numismatic Circular Sept. 1898 - as quoted in Heyde p. 85.

Alfred Toogood was listed as the publican at the Rainbow Tavern between 1855 and 1867. Neither Toogood nor the Rainbow Tavern appear in Sands' Sydney Directories for 1869 or 1870. Toogood was evidently a well regarded member of his community. In 1857 he was nominated as a candidate for the Cook ward of the Sydney Council. It appears that the Rainbow Tavern was an entertainment venue, as well as offering accommodation and meals. Toogood regularly advertised the performers and their acts in the Herald.

Physical Description

A very poor brass cast copy of a round token (33 mm diameter). The token design featuring the name, general business and address of the issuer: A. Toogood, Merchant, Pitt & King St. Sydney. The reverse features a female figure representing Justice seated on a wool bale with legs to left but her head and upper body to front. The rest of the design has not copied. This cast token is holed

Obverse Description

Legend in four lines: A. TOOGOOD / MERCHANT / PITT & KING ST. / SYDNEY

Reverse Description

Female figure representing Justice seated on a wool bale with legs to left but her head and upper body to front. The original shows a wine barrel lies on the ground behind her and a three-masted sailing ship sails to the right on the horizon to the left. She 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. Above AUSTRALIA; in exergue, 1855. But these details are largely missing from this cast copy.

Edge Description

Plain