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1 Penny - Gourlay, T. W. and Co. Christchurch
| Issuer | T. W. Gourlay & Co. |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central device depicting a framed vignette of a hand saw with handle, enclosed within a square decorative border. The circular legend reads T. W. GOURLAY & CO. along the upper arc and CHRISTCHURCH along the lower arc, with the words IMPORTERS OF and KITCHENERS arranged in the central field above and below the vignette respectively. The design is executed in a plain commercial style typical of mid-nineteenth century colonial trade tokens, with a milled border encircling the whole. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
T. W. Gourlay & Co. operated as an importing and general merchant firm in Christchurch during the 1870s, one of dozens of Canterbury businesses that resorted to privately issued trade tokens when official coinage failed to meet the demands of a rapidly expanding colonial economy. The New Zealand colonial government's lack of a domestic mint left merchants chronically short of small change, and the token-issuing trade flourished accordingly until the Currency Act of 1881 effectively killed it.
The multiple catalog references reflect two distinct varieties — Andrews 150 and 151 differ in their reverse treatment, a detail significant enough to attract separate listings across all three major references.