1/2 Penny - Bank of Upper Canada

The Bank of Upper Canada tokens were issued to address a chronic shortage of government-sanctioned small change in the province — a problem that had plagued commerce since the late eighteenth century. The provincial legislature authorized private bank token issues precisely because the imperial government in London showed little urgency in supplying adequate coinage to the colonies. These pieces were struck in Birmingham, almost certainly by Ralph Heaton & Sons, who handled a substantial portion of British colonial copper work during this period.

The bank itself collapsed in 1866, a casualty of reckless lending and the economic disruption following Confederation debates.