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1/2 Penny T.S. Brown and Co
| Issuer | T.S. Brown & Co., Montreal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1832 |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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| Obverse description | The obverse bears an entirely typographic design with no central effigy. The merchant's name T.S. BROWN & Co. arcs along the upper periphery, while the descriptive legend IMPORTERS OF HARDWARES is arranged in three lines across the central field. The place name MONTREAL curves along the lower periphery, completing the circular inscription. The lettering is rendered in bold relief Roman capitals throughout. A fine beaded border frames the entire design. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain and reeded |
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| Additional information |
T.S. Brown & Co. was a Montreal hardware merchant that issued this token during the chronic small-change shortage that plagued Lower Canada in the early 1830s. Colonial authorities had long failed to supply adequate copper coinage, leaving merchants to fill the gap themselves. Brown's firm was one of several Montreal traders who commissioned tokens struck in Britain — almost certainly by a Birmingham manufacturer — and imported them as a practical fix for daily retail transactions.
Breton 561 is reasonably well documented within the Lower Canada token series, though the merchant itself left little historical footprint beyond the token bearing its name.