New Zealand's pre-decimal token coinage persisted well into the twentieth century precisely because the government made no provision for small change adequate to retail trade. Dease and Hall's Christchurch halfpenny belongs to a final flourish of private copper tokens issued in the years immediately surrounding WWI, when coin shortages made merchant tokens commercially necessary despite their tenuous legal standing.
The Andrews and Renniks references place this among a documented but genuinely scarce group.
New Zealand's pre-decimal token coinage persisted well into the twentieth century precisely because the government made no provision for small change adequate to retail trade. Dease and Hall's Christchurch halfpenny belongs to a final flourish of private copper tokens issued in the years immediately surrounding WWI, when coin shortages made merchant tokens commercially necessary despite their tenuous legal standing.
The Andrews and Renniks references place this among a documented but genuinely scarce group.