Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Penny - Hosterman and Etter
| Issuer | Hosterman & Etter |
|---|---|
| Year | 1814 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 8.4 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | PAYABLE BY HOSTERMAN & ETTER • HALIFAX • |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Hosterman & Etter were Lancaster, Pennsylvania merchants who issued this token during a period when small change was chronically absent from American commerce — the federal government had essentially abandoned fractional copper coinage between 1809 and 1816. Private merchant tokens filled the gap by necessity, not ambition. This piece, catalogued as Breton 882, belongs to a well-documented class of necessity issues that circulated locally with the tacit acceptance of both merchants and customers.
The CCT (Canadian Colonial Tokens) reference suggests cross-border circulation or collector crossover — Lancaster County trade goods moved regularly through networks that reached into Upper Canada.