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1/2 Penny -Hurley, J. and Co. Wanganui
| Issuer | J. Hurley & Co., Wanganui |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse features a two-line central inscription reading SHIPPING SUPPLIED within an inner circle, above which appears HURLEY & Co. and below WANGANUI and NEW ZEALAND in successive lines. The outer circular legend reads CONFECTIONERS BAKERS & GROCERS around the upper arc and ESTABLISHED 1853 around the lower arc, all within a beaded border. The overall layout is typical of mid-Victorian antipodean trade token reverses, with a purely typographic design emphasising the merchant's business identity. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | CONFECTIONERS BAKERS & GROCERS SHIPPING SUPPLIED HURLEY & Co. WANGANUI NEW ZEALAND ESTABLISHED 1853 |
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| Additional information |
Hurley's token was issued during New Zealand's acute small-change shortage of the 1850s and 1860s, when the colonial government had neither the infrastructure nor the political will to supply adequate regal coinage to provincial towns. Wanganui merchants were left to solve the problem themselves. J. Hurley & Co. operated as a general trader, and tokens like this one circulated as genuine transactional currency rather than as promotional novelties — shopkeepers depended on them to make change.
The Andrews and Renniks references place this among the better-documented provincial issues, though surviving examples in collectible condition are not plentiful given the hard daily use these pieces saw on the colonial frontier.