1 Penny - De Carle, E and Co Melbourne & Plenty, Victoria

E. De Carle & Co. operated as ironmongers and general merchants in Melbourne during the gold rush years, when the colonial mint had not yet opened and British regal copper was both scarce and deeply resented for its inadequacy in daily transactions. Private traders filled the gap with their own token issues, and De Carle's 1853 penny was among dozens struck in Birmingham — almost certainly by the Heaton Mint — for import to the colony. The Andrews and Rundle references place this among the better-documented Victorian tradesman's tokens, though "Plenty" in the issuer name refers to the Plenty River district north of Melbourne, not a second shop address.