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1 Penny - John Pettigrew and Co Ipswich, Queensland
| Issuer | John Pettigrew & Co. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1865 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 9.5 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse displays the merchant's trade inscription arranged across the central field in three lines reading JOHN PETTIGREW / & Co. / IPSWICH in bold raised lettering. Encircling the field along the outer periphery is the legend WHOLESALE AND RETAIL GENERAL MERCHANTS, running from the lower left, around the top, to the lower right. The entire design is contained within a dentilated border, presenting a plain, utilitarian typographic layout characteristic of Australian colonial tradesmen's tokens of the 1860s. |
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| Additional information |
John Pettigrew operated an ironmongery and general hardware business in Ipswich during Queensland's colonial period, when the chronic shortage of small change in the colony made privately issued token currency a practical necessity rather than a legal grey area. The Queensland government tolerated — and in some cases quietly encouraged — merchant token issues through the 1850s and 1860s simply because British regal copper arrived too slowly and in insufficient quantities to meet everyday retail demand.
Pettigrew's token is among the later Queensland merchant issues before the colonial authorities moved to suppress private coinage in favour of imported imperial currency. Ipswich, as the commercial hub of the Darling Downs trade route, generated enough small-transaction volume to make a private issue commercially sensible.