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1/2 Penny - Hanks and Lloyd Sydney, New South Wales
| Issuer | Hanks and Lloyd (Australian Tea Mart, Sydney) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1857 |
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| Currency | Pound sterling (1788-1900) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is entirely typographic, with no effigy or pictorial device. The merchant's name HANKS AND LLOYD is boldly displayed in three lines across the central field in large serif capital letters. A circular peripheral legend reads AUSTRALIAN TEA MART around the upper arc and SYDNEY around the lower arc, separated by raised dots on either side of SYDNEY (variety-dependent). The whole design is contained within a beaded border. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | 1857 - A193/R184 Gray# 99; dots either side of SYDNEY - 1857 - A194/R185 Gray# 99a; no dots either side of SYDNEY - |
| Additional information |
Hanks and Lloyd operated the Australian Tea Mart on George Street, Sydney, and issued these tokens in 1857 to address the chronic shortage of small change that plagued colonial New South Wales well before the Australian colonies had any unified coinage policy. British regal copper had largely ceased arriving in sufficient quantities, and what small change existed was hoarded, worn smooth, or simply inadequate for retail trade at the penny-and-halfpenny level.
Two die varieties are catalogued — Andrews 193 and 194 — distinguished by minor differences that have kept specialist collectors debating attribution for decades. The Gray 99a variant is notably scarcer in surviving examples.