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1/2 Penny - Adamson, Watts, McKechnie & Co. Melbourne: Victoria
| Issuer | Adamson, Watts, McKechnie & Co. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1855 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 1.8 mm |
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| Obverse description | Entirely typographic design with no central pictorial device. The firm name ADAMSON, WATTS, Mc KECHNIE & Co. is arranged as a circular peripheral legend reading around the full border, separated by dot stops. The central field carries a three-line inscription in large serif capital letters reading WHOLESALE / & RETAIL / WAREHOUSEMEN. The border is formed by a continuous row of fine beading. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Entirely typographic design with no central pictorial device. The peripheral legend reading around the beaded border carries the business address and location: 11 COLLINS ST. EAST and MELBOURNE, separated by dot stops. The central field displays the date of issue in two lines: MAY 1ST 1855, with the ordinal superscript rendered in smaller letters. The overall layout is consistent with the trade token conventions of colonial Victoria. |
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| Additional information |
Adamson, Watts, McKechnie & Co. operated as importers and general merchants in Melbourne during the gold rush years, when the colonial economy was swamped with diggers and speculators but chronically short of official small change. The British government was slow to supply adequate copper coinage for the colonies, and private traders filled the gap by commissioning tokens — mostly struck in Birmingham by firms like Heaton's — which circulated on trust rather than legal authority. This piece is one of several tokens the firm issued, catalogued consistently across Andrews, Renniks, and Gray under the same reference number, suggesting no known varieties complicate the series.