Catalog
1/2 Penny Wholesale and Retail Hardware Store
| Issuer | Nova Scotia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1816 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Central depiction of a three-storey commercial building with an arched ground-floor entrance flanked by windows, rendered in plain relief within a beaded border. The legend WHOLESALE & RETAIL HARDWARE STORE curves around the upper periphery, with the date 1816 prominently displayed in the exergue below the building, accompanied by a small decorative star. |
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| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
This piece belongs to a class of Nova Scotia merchant tokens issued in the years following the War of 1812, when a chronic shortage of small British regal coinage left colonial retailers with little choice but to produce their own circulating copper. The "Wholesale and Retail Hardware Store" attribution is vague by design — the issuing merchant has never been conclusively identified, which has fueled collector debate for well over a century.
Breton 892 is among the scarcer attributions in the Nova Scotia token series.