Catalog
1 Farthing W.L. White's Halifax House
| Issuer | W.L. White's Halifax House |
|---|---|
| Year | 1831 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Plain field bearing the denomination in two lines at centre: ONE FARTHING in raised block capital letters. A continuous circular legend surrounds the field, reading PAYABLE AT W.L. WHITE'S HALIFAX HOUSE HALIFAX, separated by a small star. The legend is bounded by a beaded inner border and a plain raised rim. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain field with the advertising text CHEAP DRY GOODS STORE arranged in three lines at centre in raised block capitals. The circular peripheral legend reads W.L. WHITE'S . HALIFAX HOUSE HALIFAX, punctuated by raised dots as word separators. The design is framed by a beaded inner border and a plain raised rim, characteristic of merchant trade tokens of the period. |
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| Additional information |
Halifax trade tokens of the early 1830s filled a chronic shortage of small change in Nova Scotia, where British regal copper rarely reached in sufficient quantities and the provincial government was slow to authorize local coinage. W.L. White's Halifax House was a merchant operation issuing this brass piece privately — legally tolerated rather than officially sanctioned. The Breton catalogue, compiled decades later by Pierre-Napoléon Breton, remains the primary reference for organizing this chaotic period of Canadian colonial token coinage.