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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Newfoundland Numismatics: A Collection of Essays

Newfoundland Numismatics: A Collection of Essays

Faulkner, Christopher
Berry, Paul
Bergeron, David

Hardcover

Canadian HistoryCoinsGeneral World History

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1036159337
ISBN13: 9781036159337
Publisher: White Owl
Published: Oct 15 2026
Pages: 296
Language: English
Six essays on Newfoundland numismatics trace late eighteenth to late nineteenth-century coins, tokens, and paper scrip.

This collection comprises six essays by four authors on the numismatics of Newfoundland. They cover the period from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth centuries. The essays deal with a range of subjects, including countermarked coins, tokens struck specifically for Newfoundland, tokens imported for circulation in Newfoundland, overstruck tokens, and paper scrip. Each essay draws upon new primary source material as well as the relevant secondary literature. The collection promises to make an original contribution to Newfoundland numismatics.

Heralded in 1905 as an important numismatic discovery related to Canada and later demonized as an utter fraud, Spanish colonial dollars countermarked GR 5 ORD have known a chequered past. Paul Berry's first essay in this collection identifies the parties responsible for their production, proposes where and when they were distributed, and reveals their surprising connection to Britain's oldest Canadian colony. It catalogues known examples and using numismatic and non-numismatic references, collection databases, and digital sales records traces their appearances over the last hundred plus years.

The Peter McAuslane farthing-size token for St. John's which advertises All Sorts of Shop & Store Goods is said to have been issued in 1844, then suffered destruction by fire in 1846, after which McAuslane left Newfoundland for Ontario. Unfortunately, none of this is true. By drawing upon primary sources and private correspondence with descendants, Christopher Faulkner provides new biographical information about McAuslane, establishes the real date of the token's issue, and discusses its circulation. The essay includes a census, provenance, and sales history of surviving examples of an extremely rare token.

Using contemporary references, newspaper articles and court documents, Paul Berry sets Newfoundland's iconic Rutherford halfpenny tokens, Breton 952 and 953, against the changing fortunes of the Rutherford family businesses at St. John's and Harbour Grace from the early 1840s to the mid 1860s. The different issues are explained and illustrated and, for the first time, using measurable physical characteristics, the tokens are placed in a plausible order of issue.

In the fourth essay, Christopher Faulkner establishes the heretofore unconfirmed dates of issue of the token traditionally listed for Prince Edward Island as Breton 917 and colloquially known as the Fish halfpenny or the Success to the Fisheries token. Contemporary documentation confirms that the token was first issued for Prince Edward Island and a second issue of the token was struck some years later for circulation in Newfoundland. Henceforth, Breton 917 should be considered a double-island token rather than a token for Prince Edward Island alone.

Early accounts had placed the HEAD QUARTERS SALOON / GADF token in the Canadian Maritimes, but the exact location of the saloon, its owner, and the meaning of GADF have remained a mystery to this day. Markus Molenda's recent discovery of contemporary advertisements and other relevant documents now allow for the attribution of the token to a short-lived oyster saloon in St. John's, Newfoundland. Moreover, due to the short period of operation of the saloon, the token can now be dated to 1860-61, making it a previously unrecognized Canadian pre-Confederation token.

An informed overview of the nineteenth century copper mining industry in Newfoundland is the context for a richly illustrated essay by David Bergeron that examines and classifies the notes of the Betts Cove Mining Company of Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland. The few notes extant are not signed and the details of their printing, circulation, and redemption are unknown. This essay attempts to determine who printed the notes, address their circulation, and unravel many of the anomalies in their design.

The research represented by the six essays collected here should be considered groundbreaking because it introduces some completely new monetary issues for Newfoundland and unpacks the mysteries surrounding others.

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