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1/2 Penny - Rutherford Harbour Grace
| Issuer | Rutherford Bros. Harbour Grace |
|---|---|
| Year | 1846 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 8.1 g |
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| Obverse description | Central field displays an heraldic coat of arms flanked by two rampant horses serving as supporters, the shield featuring a central device within a bordered cartouche. A mantled helm with crest surmounts the shield, rendered in bold relief. A ribbon or scroll bearing a motto legend appears below the central arms, with the date 1846 prominently inscribed at the base of the design. The entire composition is enclosed within a beaded border running the full circumference of the coin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | RUTHERFORD BROS. HARBOUR GRACE * NEWFOUNDLAND * |
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| Additional information |
Harbour Grace was Newfoundland's second-largest town in the 1840s and a significant hub for the seal and cod trade, which created persistent demand for small-denomination coinage that the colonial government chronically failed to supply. Rutherford Brothers, operating as merchants in that port, issued this token to facilitate retail transactions — a privately minted solution to a public monetary vacuum that was entirely normal for British North America at the time.
The Breton 953 attribution places it firmly within the documented merchant token series catalogued by Pierre-Napoléon Breton in 1894.