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1 Sou Molson Breweries
| Issuer | Molson Breweries |
|---|---|
| Year | 1837 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Sou = 1/2 Penny (1⁄480) |
| 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 |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The central field depicts a detailed scene of distillery equipment set upon a brick foundation: at left, a tilted barrel and a tall cylindrical mash tun or fermenting vessel are shown, connected by a curved pipe to a spherical copper pot still resting on a stone furnace at right, with a small ewer or pitcher in the foreground at center. The entire design is contained within a raised inner circle. The peripheral legend CASH PAID FOR ALL SORTS OF GRAIN runs along the upper arc, while the date 1837 appears in the lower exergue flanked by two six-pointed star stops. |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Molson's 1837 copper token belongs to the wave of private and bank-issued tokens that flooded Lower Canada after the imperial government's chronic failure to supply adequate small change. The Legislative Assembly had repeatedly petitioned for relief; what arrived instead was a chaotic mix of private issues, many of dubious weight and fineness. Molson — already established as one of Montreal's most prominent commercial names through the brewery founded in 1786 — issued these tokens partly as a practical solution and partly as a form of institutional advertising.
Breton 562 is among the better-documented of the merchant tokens from this period, with reasonably consistent copper weight across surviving examples.