1/2 Penny - James Nokes Grocer Melbourne, Victoria

James Nokes operated a grocery business in Melbourne during the gold rush years, when acute small-change shortages forced Victorian merchants to commission their own copper tokens rather than wait for an adequate official supply. The Colonial government had no coining facility, and imported British copper rarely arrived in sufficient quantity to meet the demands of a population that had roughly tripled between 1851 and 1854.

Andrews #406 places this among a well-documented series of Melbourne tradesman's tokens, most struck by Birmingham diesinkers working on commission orders sent from the colony.