Thomas White and Son operated a general store in Westbury, a small agricultural town in Tasmania's northern midlands, and issued these tokens during a period when official colonial coinage was chronically scarce. The copper shortage in Van Diemen's Land — as Tasmania was still officially known until 1856 — drove dozens of merchants to commission private tokens, most struck in Birmingham by John Heaton and Sons or by other English diesinkers supplying the colonial trade.
At least two distinct varieties exist within the 1855–1857 window, accounting for the dual Andrews and Gray reference numbers. The differences between them are minor but catalogued.
Thomas White and Son operated a general store in Westbury, a small agricultural town in Tasmania's northern midlands, and issued these tokens during a period when official colonial coinage was chronically scarce. The copper shortage in Van Diemen's Land — as Tasmania was still officially known until 1856 — drove dozens of merchants to commission private tokens, most struck in Birmingham by John Heaton and Sons or by other English diesinkers supplying the colonial trade.
At least two distinct varieties exist within the 1855–1857 window, accounting for the dual Andrews and Gray reference numbers. The differences between them are minor but catalogued.