Catalog
1 Penny - Lipman Levy Wellington
| Issuer | Lipman Levy |
|---|---|
| Year | 1856 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Penny (1⁄240) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Entirely typographic reverse with no central device or effigy. The circular legend ONE PENNY TOKEN and PAYABLE AT L. LEVY'S LAMBTON QUAY runs along the periphery, enclosed within a toothed border. The central field contains the multi-line raised inscription LEATHER & GRINDERY OF ALL DESCRIPTION THE TRADE SUPPLIED, arranged in horizontal registers across the field. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Lipman Levy was a Wellington merchant who issued this token during the acute small-change shortage that plagued New Zealand's colonial economy in the 1850s, well before the colonial government moved to establish a reliable domestic coinage supply. Private tradesmen tokens of this period circulated as functional currency by necessity, not novelty. Levy's issue is among the better-documented Wellington merchant pieces, catalogued across Andrews, Renniks, and Gray — cross-referencing that survives because the type was actively traded by early antipodean collectors.