Catalog
1/2 Penny Starr and Shannon
| Issuer | Starr & Shannon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1815 |
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| Currency | Pound (1812-1860) |
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| Obverse description | Central device depicts a standing male figure of a Mi'kmaq Indigenous hunter, shown in three-quarter view facing left, holding a long spear or bow outstretched in his right hand, with a deer or caribou at his side and a dog at his feet, all rendered in moderately high relief upon a flat field. The figure stands on a ground line above which the date 1815 appears in the lower exergual area, flanked by two raised dots. The encircling legend STARR & SHANNON HALIFAX arcs across the upper periphery in bold capital letters, while the entire design is bounded by a continuous beaded border. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Starr & Shannon operated as general merchants in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and issued copper tokens in the mid-1810s to address the chronic small-change shortage that plagued British North America following the Napoleonic Wars. Imperial copper rarely reached the colonies in sufficient quantities, and private merchants routinely filled the gap with their own struck tokens — which, despite having no official sanction, circulated freely and were generally accepted at face value.
Breton 884 is among the better-documented Nova Scotia merchant issues of the period.