Prince Edward Island Numismatic Association
Notice of March 2000 Meeting
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Newsletter of the Prince Edward Island Numismatic Association [Vol 1 No 3] March 2000 _____________________________________________________________________________
Notice of Meeting
The next meeting of the PEINA will be held on Monday, March 13, 2000, at 7:30 pm in the library of Colonel Gray Senior High School, 175 Spring Park Road, Charlottetown. Please park in the teachers' parking lot on the north side of the building.
Note also that we have had to move forward the date of our March meeting by one week, as the school will be shut down due to the March Break. In case of bad weather, listen to the radio for confirmation that we've had to move the meeting to March 27th.
The February Meeting
The February meeting saw two major issues on the table. The first was the matter of a constitution for the club, a matter first tackled several years ago. We have distributed drafts of the earlier constitution to all who asked for one, and at the next meeting a revised and shorter version will be presented for consideration.
One other matter also generated discussion. We have been asked if we are interested in again hosting the fall A.P.N.A. show and sale. After a discussion of pros and cons and the many lessons learned, we went around the table. General consensus: we are "warm" to the idea, but will wait and make a decision at the March 13 meeting.
One other item talked about concerned club records and papers. We agreed that, each of us will bring in any club papers they may have that belong to the club, so that we can keep our material together, in one place, and avoid the risk of loss.
After the business session ended, coins and books were passed around and much enjoyable conversation took place. Albums of unidentified coins attracted much interest and comment and provided a challenge for everyone!
PEINA March Swap and Shop: Our Baghdad Bazaar?
At our March 13th meeting, members are invited to bring along coins, tokens and other materials and supplies for a "buy, sell and trade" session. We'll aim to keep the business agenda short, to give lots of time for this activity. Here's a chance to dispose of items no longer wanted and which may be of interest to some other collector.
Displays, Dartmouth, and Young People: news from the APNA
The attention of PEINA members is drawn to the display case offer mentioned in the October-December newsletter, "The Atlantic Numismatist". If you are not connected to the APNA then you might want to consider a personal membership in this organization. Ask for an application form.
APNA Spring Rally, Dartmouth, May 2000
Now is the time to give some thought to this event, which the APNA newsletter says will take place May 5 to 7 at the Burnside Hotel in Dartmouth.. No doubt we shall, in the near future, be receiving a formal invitation to attend and to participate in the display section and the auction. And for those of us not familiar with Dartmouth, we hope they'll send along a good map! If you are interested in presenting a display, please remember that the PEINA has a small collection of standard size display cases available for loan. Now is the time to begin planning your display.
At the moment, an auction and reception are planned for Friday evening, a bourse on Saturday along with special meetings for the Atlantic Provinces Wooden Money Collectors, the Canadian Tire Coupon Collectors Club, as well as a Cheque Collectors Round Table meeting. On Saturday evening we are offered a banquet, with the APNA General Meeting on Sunday morning.
Make your room reservations at the Burnside Hotel, toll free at 1-800-830-4656. Full details will be in the next issue of The Atlantic Numismatist, the APNA newsletter.
Young Collectors
The APNA is giving serious thought to a programme to involve more young collectors. This is a matter that the PEINA might want to consider, not only the recruitment of young collectors but their retention as well. Is there anyone who wants to take this on as a personal project?
Newsletters Received
We have received a number of out-of-town newsletters recently and wish to thank those responsible for sending them to us. This includes the Halifax Coin Club and the Miramichi Coin Club and we acknowledge receipt of their informative publications. Interesting note: the Miramichi club was started in 1967.
PEINA Memberships for year 2000
Club membership dues are now overdue, as we have moved to the calendar year system. If you have not already done so, please send us your dues now. Thanks to all who have done so already, and special thanks to collector RM who very kindly included a donation along with his membership dues. This is greatly appreciated.
Monthly Features....
Numismatics on the Internet: Alaska
I've never been to Alaska, but after visiting the website of the Anchorage Coin Club I'm very tempted to go. The many pages of practical information offered by the Club conveys the positive impression of an active, lively organization. And there are many features of both website and the Club's organization that could be profitably copied by others. It's clear, too, that Anchorage Coin Club members are expanding their knowledge of numismatics, sharing and contributing information, and having fun. Yes, I know I'd receive a warm welcome and I'm sorry I missed their summer barbecue.
The main page is <<www.alaska.net/~nakata/ coin_club.htm>>. It is clear, uncluttered, informative, and visually appealing. No wonder these folks win awards. The nakata in the web address is Larry Nakata, club secretary and editor of the monthly "ACCent" newsletter along with Mike Nourse, Jim Susky, and Loren Lucason, the latter also being the Club's President. I was attracted to the newsletter and spent several hours immersed in the dozen or so issues which are posted for electronic access..
Many things caught my eye. Of particular interest are the many ways in which Club members share their enthusiasm for the hobby. There is an ongoing programme of publishing member's articles on aspects of numismatics. The focus on American coins is not unexpected and most articles pertain to this area of collecting. Especially informative was Mike Nourse's description and lively analysis of the reeded edge capped bust half dollars of the 1830s. His interpretation of their relative degrees of rarity, the first U.S. coins made on steam presses, is both a good piece of writing and a refreshing piece of common sense. Collectors of these coins would find Nourse's piece worth a look, and it is only one of many articles that will repay a reading.
Another feature of the ACCent newsletter is the "Alaskan Token of the Month". This sheds light on interesting chapters in Alaskan numismatic history and gives members a chance to share their extensive knowledge of their state's colourful numismatic past.
Noteworthy among the ACC's ongoing activity is its Young Numismatists programme. This is worth a look. A separate slate of learning activities is organized for YNs, supported by a recent fund-raising auction of donated coins, reference books and related materials. The YN meetings tend to concentrate on the practical side of collecting and point out low-cost areas for young collectors to explore. Support for this programme is impressive, to judge by the number of Club members who donated items for the fund-raiser and the amount of money secured thereby. All ACC members come together from time to time for special workshops. Some recent topics have included the grading of coins, also the detection of counterfeits.
One item we might think about is the ACC practice of having the club executive meet before the general membership meeting. This means that business and pleasure are separated, and club meetings are devoted almost entirely to the hobby and not to the organizational detail.
The Anchorage Coin Club and its website and newsletter are worth a visit. Like the state itself, there is much to explore. The Club is to be congratulated for sharing their enthusiasm with their virtual audience.
-mbh
Book Review:
English Trade Tokens; the Industrial Revolution Illustrated. Illustrated, by Peter Mathias. Photographs by A. C. Barrington-Brown. London: Abelard-Schuman, Publisher, 1962. [Robertson Library, U.P.E.I., CJ/5053/.M3/1962]
As a collector keenly interested in tokens in their various forms, this slim volume of some 64 pages has proved to be one of the more interesting books on this subject. Its focus is specific, as explained in the subtitle, but as a model of numismatic writing this book is hard to beat. The photos, too, are a pleasure to look at and study.
The book was a lucky find in the second floor stacks at the Robertson Library. The CJ section contains dozens of books on numismatic subjects and has several volumes devoted to official British coinage. This volume looks at the response of business people to a shortage of small coins, at a time of an expanding industrial economy, the increase in the number of people moving from a rural subsistence and barter lifestyle to an urban cash wage system, and when government seemed reluctant to provide the quantity of small change that was needed in these changing (no pun intended) times. Mathias chooses to look at the production of private tokens by subject and various business sectors. These include images on tokens of politics and war, retailers' tokens, transport, mine and copper companies, and commerce and industry. This latter includes the textile industry, ironworks, and local businesses including shipping. Especially attractive are those tokens which present architectural images. Each section is illustrated with appropriate tokens, and the photography and printing is first class. For the serious collector of tokens, this book is indeed worth the trip out to UPEI. Outside borrowers can apply for a library card; ask at the circulation desk.
The Life and Times of the Molson Token, 1837
There it is, listed in many catalogues. Breton's Popular Illustrated Guide To Canadian Coins, Medals, &. &. (1894, reprinted 1963) had it pegged as number 562 while twenty-five years earlier Alfred Sandham (Coins, Tokens and Medals of the Dominion of Canada, 1869, reprinted 1962) mentions it as "scarce". This little copper coin is powerful evidence of the drive and determination of one Canadian family to succeed in their brewing business. It reflects, too, the economic climate in which this business operated.
There was no such thing in the 1830s in Canada as Visa, MasterCard, or plastic debit cards. Electronic funds transfer was unknown, as was electricity! Coin was scarce, occasionally counterfeit, and trade a complicated affair involving bills of exchange, paper notes, hearty handshakes, and a bewildering variety of worn ["thin shillings"] and sometimes dubious British and foreign coins.
Merrill Denison's informative history of the Molson family, The Barley and The Stream (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1955) cites one business trip made to New York in May 1837 by Thomas Molson. In his travel diary Molson records that he left Montreal with money amounting to 177 pounds, 2 shillings and ten pence. According to Denison, this sum of money was made up of 67 dollars, 521 half dollars, 1,200 quarter dollars, Spanish dollars, English gold and silver, and Montreal Bank bills, "a strange and cumbersome assortment that mirrored the monetary conditions prevailing in Canada at that time." [Denison, 170]
It was a shortage of cash which led to the Molson business creating its own money, in the form of both paper notes and coin.
1837 was the year of the rebellions in both Upper and Lower Canada, and according to Denison one of the economic causes was the high rate of interest faced by borrowers and the acute shortage of money "but not for the reasons we commonly assume", he writes, "such as inability to make or keep it." Bank failures in the United States and depression in Britain caused a shortage of cash, which drove up interest rates, which then restricted trade, caused economic slow-down, and contributed to unemployment..
The situation was one that called for prompt action. Denison observes that "there was only one way to improve the situation. That was for reputable business houses, and indeed disreputable ones as chance afforded, to create their own currency for the payment of labour and materials." In the case of the Molsons, this included money needed for the payment for workers' wages at their brewery and for grain purchased from farmers.
In the U.S., "hard times" tokens began to appear. In Canada, the business community and consumers faced a confusing mixture of money. Spend a paper note, and one's change might include legitimate regal coinage, copper and brass tokens, some lightweight imitations now called blacksmith tokens, perhaps a satirical piece poking fun at government, domestic and imported merchants' tokens, coins and tokens rejected because of their suspected political affiliation, as well as some outright fakes. In other words, one could not only haggle over the price of goods or services, but one could haggle over the money to be used for payment.
In August 1837 the Molsons' Bank was established. William Molson took delivery of paper money printed for the company in New York. The were printed in denominations of one, two and five dollars even though legal tender and most trade was conducted in pounds, shillings and pence. It was at this time the Molson "un sou" copper halfpenny token appeared. It is perhaps one of the most interesting and valuable of the Canadian colonial tokens. It is included in The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Tokens (3rd edition, 1995) as LC-16 as well as J. E. Charlton's Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, Tokens and Paper Money (Thirteenth edition, 1965) as number 37. The token appears also in J.A.Haxby and R.C.Willey, Coins of Canada (17th edition, 1999) as coin number 108.
According to Sandham, repeated by Breton, the dies for the Molson halfpenny were engraved by a Joseph Arnault, the Montrealer with "Patriote" sympathies who is responsible also for the so-called "Rebellion sou" issued the same year, 1837, by La Banque du Peuple. This coin features a star of liberty and a liberty cap, "hidden" in the wreath on the reverse. Also presented on this coin is a bouquet of roses, thistles, shamrocks, and maple leaves as well as other symbolic flora. This coin prompted an imitative series known today as the "Bouquet Sous" of 1837-38, one which was soon suppressed by the administration of the day. Charlton (1965) suggests the appearance of so many varieties as the reason for suppression, but it is perhaps just as likely that the popularity of these pieces among the disaffected French-speaking population, and their rejection of coins with English inscriptions, was the cause.
The Molson token is an interesting example of a partly bilingual token. The inscriptions are in English - "Ths. & Wm. Molson / Brewers / Distillers & & & / Montreal" and on the reverse the slogan "Cash paid for all sorts of grain / 1837". It is not surprising that, at a time when there were crop failures in Lower Canada, Molsons would offer the powerful inducement of on-the-spot cash payment. Several Montreal diarists have noted William Molson standing at the gates of his brewery in working garb, waving his arms and attempting to persuade farmers to drive their grain wagons into his brewery yard.
The obverse of the Molson token presents an image of a wooden barrel or cask, while the reverse shows a still. According to Haxby and Willley and the Charlton Standard Catalogue, the image of the brewing apparatus is copies from a halfpenny token of 1797 issued in Perthshire, Scotland, and just the sort of coin a young brewer might keep in his pocket as a lucky piece. With the barrel on the obverse, both sides of the Molson token show the kind of equipment with which they and their customers were thoroughly familiar. The value of the coin, however, is given in French: "Un sou". To the farmer with limited reading skills, these were the few recognizable letters on a coin that mattered most.
Haxby and Willey state that the Molson coin was struck in Montreal by Arnaud, although they differ from Breton by giving the artist the name of Jean Marie. (The Charlton Standard Catalogue spells the name with a hyphen, Jean-Marie.) They further suggest, that the designs were the work of the company and submitted to Arnault only for engraving.
Five versions are known of the Molson coin. Breton mentions versions with thick and thin planchets and Haxby and Willey add that an example exists in silver. The Charlton Standard Catalogue goes further, to mention that the thick and thin versions each come also with plain and reeded edges. The version in silver was not struck for circulation, say Haxby and Willey, and so was probably meant to be a souvenir. And as mentioned at the beginning of this article, as early as 1869 Sandham considered the coin scarce.
One wonders why this is so. When the Molsons established their bank in 1836-37 they had arranged for a plentiful supply of paper bills. Denison's history mentions several trips made to New York by Molsons or their employees to collect and bring back supplies of printed paper money. Surely they would have also made provision for a good supply of their tokens. However, in the reactionary climate of post-Rebellion Canada, the Molsons' Bank was under scrutiny. Further, as Alfred Dubuc points out in his profile of William Molson in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography (vol X, 521) the pugnacious Molson brothers had taken on the powerful Bank of Montreal which was now attempting to drive the Molsons out of the banking business. After much lobbying on both sides, the Molson case was lost. The issuing of currency was to be restricted to "chartered banks not engaged in any other kind of business." [Denison, 177], according to government fiat. So, in March 1839 the Molsons applied for a license to engage in the banking business. At that point, according to Denison, the bank had over 6000 pounds worth of paper notes still in circulation. No reference is made to copper in circulation. The authorities refused the license, and so one can imagine that both coins and notes were taken in and not again placed in general circulation. With Arnault's facility in the city of Montreal, a means existed for the tokens on hand to be easily melted down and the copper used again in some other enterprise.
And what of this token today? One does not see many in shops or in advertisements. When they do appear, the price is high. One CCN advertisement last autumn offered a Molson token in EF (45) condition for $879 while a recent CCN has a Quebec dealer offering the token in VF (30) at $799. The so-called "Rebellion Sou" of Arnault, by the way, is also available from the same Quebec dealer, North-American Numismatics of Boucherville, in EF/AU condition for $109.
What can one conclude about the Molson token? It is certainly a most desirable item for any collection of Canadian coins and tokens. By incorporating a borrowed design with local production, the coin mirrors its age, a time when Canada drew heavily from the old country while at the same time, attempting to look to its own resources. The rebellions of 1837-38 reflected this demand for more autonomy. From a numismatic point of view, the Molson token is a reminder of the era when officially-sanctioned coinage was in short supply and the shortfall made up by the contributions of everyone from legitimate businesses to "blacksmith" producers. If one sought a token to represent this period, one could not go wrong in selecting the 1837 Molson halfpenny token.
mbh
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