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1 Penny - Smith, Peate and Co Sydney, New South Wales
| Issuer | Smith, Peate & Co |
|---|---|
| Year | 1856 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | A standing draped female figure, facing slightly left, holds a balance scale aloft in her raised right hand, emblematic of Commerce or Justice, while at her feet rests a cornucopia overflowing with produce. A sailing ship is depicted on the water in the left field background, evoking maritime trade. The legend ESTABLISHED arcs along the upper periphery within a beaded border, and the date 1856 appears in the lower exergue area. The overall composition is rendered in a classical allegorical style typical of mid-nineteenth-century Australian tradesmen's tokens. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ESTABLISHED 1836 |
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| Additional information |
Smith, Peate & Co operated as a hardware and general merchant house in Sydney during the mid-1850s, a period when the colonial government's chronic shortage of small-denomination coinage forced private traders to issue their own copper tokens. The New South Wales administration had repeatedly failed to secure adequate supplies of regal coinage from London, leaving merchants — and their customers — with no practical alternative for low-value transactions.
The Gray #247b designation distinguishes this as a specific die variant within a closely related group catalogued under Andrews #483.