1/2 Penny - Rutherford 'St John's'

The Rutherford tokens were issued by a dry goods merchant operating in Montreal during a period when small change was chronically scarce in the Canadas. The Province's official copper supply was perpetually inadequate, and private merchants filled the gap with their own struck tokens — a practice tolerated, if not officially sanctioned, by colonial authorities. The St. John's designation on this piece almost certainly refers to St. John's Ward, a commercial district in Montreal rather than the Newfoundland city.

Breton 952 is one of several Rutherford varieties, distinguished in the CCT census by die linkage and edge characteristics.