1 Penny Token - George IV counterfeit

Nova Scotia's chronic shortage of small change in the early nineteenth century made it fertile ground for counterfeits and unauthorized tokens that circulated freely alongside official issues. This piece imitates the authorized Nova Scotia penny tokens of George IV's reign, which were themselves struck in Birmingham — the counterfeit trade typically sourced from the same English die-sinkers, making attribution genuinely difficult without careful weight and die analysis.

Breton 870 is the standard reference point, but surviving examples vary enough in fabric to suggest more than one source of manufacture.