Nova Scotia had no official coinage of its own in 1815, and the chronic shortage of small change forced local merchants to commission their own copper tokens. These "commercial change" pieces circulated by mutual consent rather than legal authority, filling a gap the colonial government showed little urgency to address. Halifax merchants accepted them at face value simply because there was nothing else.
Breton 885 is among the better-documented of the Nova Scotia merchant tokens, with die linkages catalogued by Courteau that help trace the handful of private issuers behind the series.
Nova Scotia had no official coinage of its own in 1815, and the chronic shortage of small change forced local merchants to commission their own copper tokens. These "commercial change" pieces circulated by mutual consent rather than legal authority, filling a gap the colonial government showed little urgency to address. Halifax merchants accepted them at face value simply because there was nothing else.
Breton 885 is among the better-documented of the Nova Scotia merchant tokens, with die linkages catalogued by Courteau that help trace the handful of private issuers behind the series.