1/2 Penny - W.D. Wood Hobart, Tasmania

W.D. Wood operated the Montpellier Retreat Inn during a period when Van Diemen's Land was transitioning into Tasmania and the colonial copper shortage was acute enough that private traders routinely issued their own token currency to make change. These merchant tokens circulated on trust rather than legal authority, and their acceptance depended entirely on the issuer's local reputation. Wood's establishment was substantial enough to sustain that trust.

The Andrews, Renniks, and Gray references all catalogue this piece, reflecting the depth of collector interest in Australian colonial tokens as a distinct field — one where provenance to a specific named business adds measurable premium over anonymous issues.