1 Penny - T. Butterworth and Co. Castlemaine, Victoria

T. Butterworth & Co. operated as a general store in Castlemaine during the Victorian gold rush years, when the colonial penny shortage was acute enough that private traders across Victoria issued their own copper tokens rather than lose sales to customers who couldn't make change. Castlemaine itself — founded essentially on top of the Mount Alexander alluvial goldfields — was one of the busiest inland towns on the continent through the 1850s, which made reliable small-denomination currency a commercial necessity, not a novelty.

The Andrews and Gray reference numbers listed here indicate two distinct varieties exist for this issuer, differing in die detail.