FREE: Lower Canada Bank of Quebec – One Penny Bank Token 1837 – 182 Years Old

The listing, Lower Canada Bank of Quebec – One Penny Bank Token 1837 – 182 Years Old has ended.

Lower Canada Bank of Quebec – One Penny Bank Token 1837 – 182 Years Old

The winner of this auction will receive the 182 year old 1837 Two Sous (Habitant Penny) Canadian Bank Token shown in the attached photos. This is a great looking coin; letters and images are clear and readable and it has a nice even copper color. During the first half of the 19th century there was a shortage of small coins in Lower Canada; which became acute when the government removed all the lightweight pieces from circulation in 1835. No official coins were issued, but the Bank of Montreal, the Quebec Bank, the City Bank and La Banque du Peuple were given authority to issue penny and halfpenny tokens similar in weight to British copper coins. The obverse of these tokens portrays the standing figure of a habitant in winter dress, with his tuque, frock overcoat of homespun with hood, moccasins, sash and whip. The figure resembled Louis-Joseph Papineau, a leader of the Rebellion of 1837, and the tokens became known as 'Papineaus.' The reverse depicts the arms of the City of Montreal, with the name of the issuing bank on the ribbon, the date l837 below and the words Bank Token One Penny.