Sou Birmingham - 32 laurel leaves / 2 shamrocks

The so-called "Birmingham sous" were struck by private manufacturers in Birmingham, England, and imported into Lower Canada to fill a chronic shortage of small change that the colonial administration repeatedly failed to address. This particular variety — distinguished by its count of 32 laurel leaves and 2 shamrocks — is one of several die combinations catalogued by Breton, the differences meaningful to specialists and invisible to the habitant farmer or Montreal merchant who actually spent them.

The colonial government officially condemned these tokens as irregular currency, then looked the other way while commerce depended on them entirely.