1/2 Penny Trade and Navigation

Nova Scotia's copper token issues of the early nineteenth century filled a chronic small-change vacuum that British colonial authorities repeatedly failed to address through official coinage. The 1820 half penny trade tokens circulated under private commercial sanction rather than Crown authority — a pragmatic arrangement tolerated by the colonial government because the alternative was no small denomination currency at all.

Breton 894 is among the better-documented Nova Scotia copper tokens, with multiple die marriages known across the broader Trade and Navigation series.