Canada, 1844 AD., Bank of Montreal, Halfpenny Token, KM-Tn18.
Canada, Quebec, Bank of Montreal, Front View' token, Boulton and Watt Soho mint, 1844 AD.,
Halfpenny (Sou) Token (ø 28 mm / 8,91 g), bronze, mintage 1.440.000 , axes medal alignment ↑↑ (0°), plain edge, die cracks on both sides,
Obv.: PROVINCE OF CANADA • BANK OF MONTREAL •, front view of the Bank of Montreal, medium (tall) trees flanking, die cracks between legends, especially at M of MONTREAL.
Rev.: BANK - TOKEN / CONCORDIA SALUS / BANK OF - MONTREAL / 1844 / HALF PENNY , coat of arms of the bank, CONCORDIA SALUS on oval design with , short nosed beaver, BANK OF MONTREAL incuse on ribbon below, date 1844 below, die cracks.
KM-Tn18 ; Charlton-PC-1B1 ; Breton 527 . 3 varieties of trees exist for 1842 and 1844 tokens: small trees, medium trees and big trees.
During the first half of the l9th century there was a chronic shortage of small coins in Lower Canada. In 1835, following a government decision to remove all the lightweight pieces from circulation, the shortage became acute. No official coins were issued but the Bank of Montreal, the Quebec Bank, the City Bank and La Banque du Peuple were given authority to issue penny and halfpenny tokens of a weight similar to that of British copper coins.
The reverse depicts the arms of the City of Montreal, with the name of the issuing bank on the ribbon, the date l844 below and the words BANK TOKEN ONE PENNY. For several decades bank tokens made up a large part of the small coins in circulation.
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