Surcharged Token - 1 Penny, British, 1797 stamped 'W.C. Cook Bay St Sandridge Sugar Works', Victoria, Australia, circa 1860

Search the collections

Summary:: Copper one Penny Surcharged Token, minted by the Royal Mint, London, circa 1797. Issued by King George III. It was surcharged 'W.C. Cook Bay St Sandridge Sugar Works Treacle Delivered', circa 1860.

W.C. Cook was an early Port Melbourne retailer. Cook?s tokens, struck in 1862 by Melbourne medallist Thomas Stokes, bore the inscription 'Sugar Companies Treacle delivered'. Cook was the first merchant to carry their product, and the inclusion of this information on the token suggests that the Sugar Company?s establishment was something of an event in Melbourne. The Victorian Sugar Company was established in Sandridge (now Port Melbourne) in 1857.
Description:: A worn 1797 British penny surcharged BY W.C. COOK BAY ST SANDRIDGE SUGAR WORKS TREACLE DELIVERED and E W also F P N on the reverse
Acquisition Information:: Transfer from National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), 1976

Tagged with:	sugar trade, surcharged tokens, treacle
Themes this item is part of:	W.C. Cook, Oddfellows Store, Sandridge (Port Melbourne), Victoria, George McArthur, Collector & Baker (1842-1903), Numismatics & Philately Collection, Working Life & Trades Collection
Primary Classification:	TRADE TOKENS
Secondary Classification:	Australia - Victoria
Tertiary Classification:	surcharged strikes
DateEra:	circa 1860 AD
Denomination:	1 Penny
Obverse Description:	Worn 1797 penny surcharged BY W.C. COOK BAY ST SANDRIDGE SUGAR WORKS TREACLE DELIVERED and E W
Reverse Description:	surcharged F P N
Inscriptions:	Obverse: BY W.C. COOK BAY ST SANDRIDGE SUGAR WORKS TREACLE DELIVERED and E W Reverse: F P N
Shape:	round
Material:	Copper
Issued By:	King George III, England, Great Britain, 1797
Surcharged By:	W Cook - Oddfellows Store, Sandridge (Port Melbourne), Victoria, Australia, circa 1860 In 1862, W.C. Cook issued his own tokens struck by Stokes in Melbourne. This surcharged token probably predates that issue.
References:	http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/asaw/biogs/A001535b.htm
Bibliography:	[Book], Dr Arthur Andrews, Australasian Tokens and Coins, Trustees of the Mitchell Library, Sydney, Sydney, 1921, No.1051, p.142 Pages