Token - Halfpenny, Late Strike, Thrale & Cross, Family Grocers, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, circa 1918

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A Mint Melbourne, Australia
B Issued By North Melbourne, Australia

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Summary:: Australia Victoria Melbourne
Thrale & Cross Token Halfpenny, Late re-strike of original token type
Mint: Stokes

Standard References: Andrews 585 = Heyde 254 = Sharples V.174
This ia a late re-strike of one of the earliest tokens manufactured in Melbourne at the Kangaroo Office mint. The Thrale & Cross obverse dire (manufactured in Melbourne from a blank die brought from London) was used with two Kangaroo Office stock reverse dies (manufactured by Taylor in London and shipped to Australia on the Kangaroo) probably in late 1854 to manufacture trade token halfpenny pieces. Reginald Scaife, manager of the Kangaroo Office lived in North Melbourne, it is possible that Thrale & Cross was his personal family grocer. This token features the seated Australia reverse. The dies were acquired by Thomas Stokes in 1857.
Description:: A copper trade token halfpenny (28 mm diameter) featuring the name address and business of the issuer: Thrale & Cross, Howard St. North Melbourne, family grocer and egg powder store. This token is uncirculated with near full mint lustre. The reverse is a stock die featuring Australia seated on rock facing to left holding an olive branch extended in her right hand and resting a staff on her left forearm; above, AUSTRALIA. Struck from deteriorated dies.
Acquisition Information:: Transfer from National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), 1976

Discipline:	Numismatics
Dimensions:	28 mm (Diameter)
Weight:	11.067 g (Weight)

More information

Tagged with:	egg powder, grocers, late strikes
Themes this item is part of:	Thrale & Cross, North Melbourne, Victoria, Numismatics & Philately Collection, Working Life & Trades Collection, Kangaroo Office Mint, Melbourne, Victoria, 1854-1857, Alfred Chitty Collection
Primary Classification:	TRADE TOKENS
Secondary Classification:	Australia - Victoria
Tertiary Classification:	late strikes
Series:	Trade Tokens
DateEra:	circa 1918 AD
Denomination:	Halfpenny
Obverse Description:	The name, address and business of the firm in seven lines, the first and last curved to form a border: . THRALE & CROSS / FAMILY GROCER / & / EGG POWDER / STORE / HOWARD ST NORTH MELBOURNE . Struck with deteriorated dies.
Reverse Description:	Australia seated on rock facing to left holding an olive branch extended in her right hand and resting a staff on her left forearm; above, AUSTRALIA. Struck with deteriorated dies.
Edge Description:	Plain
Inscriptions:	Obverse: THRALE & CROSS FAMILY GROCER & EGG POWDER STORE HOWARD ST. NORTH MELBOURNE Reverse: AUSTRALIA
Shape:	round
Material:	Copper
Issued By:	Thrale & Cross, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, circa 1854
Mint:	Kangaroo Office (Mint), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, circa 1854 The dies were sold with the rest of the Kangaroo Office mint plant to Thomas Stokes in 1857. Stokes re-struck the original halfpenny in the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries for collectors.
Previous Collection:	Mr Alfred Chitty
References:	Andrews 585 = Heyde 254 = Sharples V.174 but a late strike
Bibliography:	[Book], Dr Arthur Andrews, Australasian Tokens and Coins, Trustees of the Mitchell Library, Sydney, Sydney, 1921 [Book], Dion Skinner - Renniks & Co Pty Ltd, Gilbert Heyde, Unofficial Coins of Colonial Australia and New Zealand, 1967 [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.