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Token - Halfpenny, Adamson, Watts McKechnie & Co, Wholesale & Retail Warehousemen, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1855 Numismatics Reg. No: NU 11003

Adamson, Watts, McKechnie & Co. Token Halfpenny
Summary:
Copper Halfpenny Token, minted by the Kangaroo Office, Melbourne, in 1855. Issued by Adamson, Watts, McKechnie & Co., Wholesale and Retail Warehousemen, in Melbourne. Adamson joined the existing softgoods business of Watts and McKechnie & Co in April 1855, however the firm became insolvent in September of that year, a common situation as Melbourne's economy slowed considerably, overwhelmed by the massive boom of the early gold rush. This token was struck in 1982.
Description:
A round copper token (28 mm diameter) giving the name address and business of the issuer: Adamson, Watts and McKechnie & Co.; 11 Collins St. East, Melbourne; wholesale and retail warehousemen. The token is worn and corroded. It bears the date May 1st. 1855.
Acquisition Information:
Transfer from Melbourne Branch of Royal Mint, 1978
Discipline: Numismatics
Dimensions: 28 mm (Diameter)
Weight: 7.827 g (Weight)

More information

Tagged with: retail trade, retailing, warehouses, wholesale trade
Themes this item is part of: Kangaroo Office Mint, Melbourne, Victoria, 1854-1857, Adamson Watts McKechnie & Co., Melbourne, Victoria, Numismatics & Philately Collection, Working Life & Trades Collection, Royal Mint, Melbourne Branch, Melbourne, Victoria, Branch Mints of the Royal Mint, Deputy Masters of the Melbourne Branch of the Royal Mint, Closure of Melbourne Mint, Melbourne Mint during World War II, Establishment of Melbourne Mint, 1872, Melbourne Mint
Primary Classification: TRADE TOKENS
Secondary Classification: Australia - Victoria
Tertiary Classification: working strikes
Series: Trade Tokens
DateEra: 1855 AD
Denomination: Halfpenny
Obverse Description: Around within a border of 129 beads; ADAMSON, WATTS, MCKECHNIE & CO. . in three lines at centre, WHOLESALE / & RETAIL / WAREHOUSMEN
Reverse Description: Around within a border of 123 beads; .11 COLLINS ST. EAST . MELBOURNE in two lines at centre, MAY 1ST. / 1855
Edge Description: Plain
Inscriptions: Obverse: ADAMSON, WATTS, MCKECHNIE & Co WHOLESALE & RETAIL WAREHOUSMEN
Reverse: 11 COLLINS ST. EAST MAY 1ST. 1855 MELBOURNE
Shape: round
Material: Copper
Issued By: Adamson Watts McKechnie & Co., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1855
Mint: Kangaroo Office (Mint), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1855
Previous Collection: Royal Mint, Melbourne Branch
Bibliography:
  1. [Book], Dr Arthur Andrews, Australasian Tokens and Coins, Trustees of the Mitchell Library, Sydney, Sydney, 1921, No. 3
  2. [Book], Dion Skinner - Renniks & Co Pty Ltd, Gilbert Heyde, Unofficial Coins of Colonial Australia and New Zealand, 1967, No. 3
  3. [Article] Sharples, John P. 1993. A Catalogue of the Trade Tokens of Victoria 1848 to 1862. Journal of the Numismatic Association of Australia. vol.7: p.1-77., V. 41

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