Canadian Province Tokens and Coins
Coin book containing, among other North American coins, coins and tokens of the provinces of Canada
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First Must Be an Understanding of Canada from Provinces to Confederation
Canadian province tokens and coins exist, but only for some provinces. Those provinces that did have coins or tokens ceased having them minted when the province for which they were being made joined the confederation currently known as Canada.
To understand why province coins eventually became unnecessary to produce requires we understand the confederation that grew into Canada as it is today. Initially, on July 1, 1867, three British provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick joined together. The Province of Canada split into two provinces, Quebec and Ontario. These four provinces united and took the name Canada. Manitoba was added in 1870. British Columbia joined the confederation in 1871, and Prince Edward Island joined in 1873. To this core Saskatchewan and Alberta later joined the confederation, then Newfoundland eventually joined in 1949.
First Canadian Coins Preceded the Confederation
According to the coin book [Year] North American Coins & Prices, the earliest Canadian coins were one-cent coins minted in 1858. Notice the Confederation of Canada did not exist until 1967. How can this be? The Province of Canada did exist and used the name Canada prior to 1867. It can be argued that these were province coins for the Province of Canada.
Not All Provinces Had Their Own Coinage
Some of the earlier “coins” were classified tokens. Permission to mint money was not always forthcoming from the British government, but the minting of these pieces went on due to need. Hence, they would need to properly be called tokens.
Only four other provinces had coins prior to joining the Confederation of Canada. They are New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland.
To clarify why other provinces did not have coins minted we must consider the need. The people of the remaining provinces would have had access to foreign coins, and with sparse populations these provinces would have had no need. Certainly, British coins would have been available to the inhabitants in some limited degree. But, more importantly, the provinces of Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan were not yet provinces prior to joining Canada. Manitoba was part of Rupert’s land, and the others were formed from territorial land. They only became provinces with their reclassification by the Confederation of Canada, and were not provinces outside the confederation.
Desirable Coin or Token Collections
Because of prices of goods at the time, the need for small denomination tokens existed, but not for larger denomination tokens. Collecting smaller denomination tokens is less expensive, but there are some expensive pieces. For one thing precious metal would not be used in a one-cent piece. Another factor is pieces of smaller denominations are needed in large quantities. So, there are more smaller denomination tokens to be found.
Another consideration is, with the exception of Newfoundland, the series are short, making obtaining a complete set of tokens for a province possible.
Finally, no additional province pieces, neither coins nor tokens, will be minted. Collectors like closed sets. Knowing the collection is complete is a desirable factor.
Where Can Information of Provincial Coins and Tokens Be Found?
A good book can be quite helpful when collecting coins and tokens. [Year] North American Coins & Prices is an excellent book series. This book lists the pieces issued for each year and mintmark, gives number minted for each piece, identifies any mintmark used, identifies the metal, and indicates the number of proof pieces, if any.
Because these are closed sets no longer being added to, and because the value in a coin guide is old by the time the guide is printed, it makes no significant difference which year the guide is for. Purchasing an older issue can provide a savings.
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island issued a bronze cent coin in 1871, including two thousand of these coins having been minted as proof.
The earlier coinage used by Prince Edward Island were one-shilling and five-shilling pieces. These came from Spanish and Colonial Spanish eight-reales pieces, which were silver coins. The method of making these coins was to cut a hole in the center of a large silver coin. The coin with the hole would be countermarked, thereby making it coinage for the province. In 1813 the plug, sometimes called the dump, would become the one-shilling piece. The countermarked silver coin with the hole became a five-shilling piece. Five-shilling pieces were made using eight-reales silver pieces from Lima from 1809 through 1811, and from using the Mexico City eight-reales pieces from 1791 through 1811. In 1808 the design of the Mexican silver coin changed, so two varieties exist.
Using foreign coins was not unusual for that period.
Holey Dollars
Prince Edward Island 1871 Victoria Coin
Nova Scotia
The Province of Nova Scotia’s first tokens were the half penny of 1823, followed by the penny token dated 1824. There were years when tokens were not issued. In 1856 the last tokens for Nova Scotia were struck.
In 1861 both the half penny and the penny coins were minted. These were followed by the 1862 penny and the 1864 half penny and penny coins.
From July 1, 1867, onward Nova Scotia was part of the Confederation of Canada, although Canadian cent coins would not again be struck for several years. In the days when provinces did not yet join into the confederation, minting would take place when there was a need, and this practice continued after the formation of the confederation.
Nova Scotia Tokens
New Brunswick
The first tokens with the denomination of cent and half-cent were minted for circulation in New Brunswick in 1843. Both were again minted for 1854, the last year tokens were produced for New Brunswick.
The bronze coins of the denominations half-cent and the cent were minted in 1861, and a second minting of the cent coin occurred in 1864.
New Brunswick required coins of larger denominations. The five cent, ten cent, and twenty cent Sterling silver coins served this purpose. Each was struck in both 1862 and in 1864. The actual silver weight of the of the coins of the three denominations were three hundredths of an ounce, seven hundredths of an ounce, and fourteen hundredths of an ounce, respectively.
New Brunswick Coins
New Brunswick Token
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Pieces
Newfoundland
Newfoundland was already established when Canada was organized in 1867. However, it did not join the Confederation of Canada until 1949. It became a British Dominion in 1907, and a dependent territory of the United Kingdom from 1934 until 1949.
The coinage of Newfoundland includes a large cent coin from 1865 through 1936, followed by a small cent coin from 1838 until the last Newfoundland coins were produced in 1947.
Sterling silver coins, 0.925 silver, of denominations five cents and ten cents were minted from 1865, with the composition changing to 0.800 silver in 1944 for the five-cent coins and in 1945 for the ten-cent coins. Twenty-cent coins in Sterling silver were minted from 1865 through 1912, and the slightly larger denomination of twenty-five cents had a brief run in 1917 and 1919. Fifty-cent coins of Sterling silver were produced from 1870 until 1909.
One unique coin is the 0.917 purity gold coin bearing the denomination of two dollars. It was first produced in 1865, and the last two-dollar coin was minted in 1888. This makes Newfoundland the only province to use a gold coin other than foreign coins.
Another uniqueness is the inclusion of mintmarks to identify the producing mint. While the Royal Mint produced many coins needed throughout the British Empire, it could not meet the entire demand. Contracts with Heaton Mint, a private mint in Birmingham, England, resulted in coins to be minted bearing the H mintmark. Also, the Royal Canadian Mint came into existence in 1909, and its Ottawa facility used the C mintmark.
Of the provinces, the Newfoundland coins exist in the greatest number of varieties, having used all three mints.
Once Newfoundland joined the Confederation of Canada in 1949 the coins of Newfoundland continued to circulate for some time.
Coins of Newfoundland
Newfoundland Penny
Source
Much of the information used in this article on dates and mints used by various provinces was extracted from the 2015 North American Coins & Prices A Guide to U. S., Canadian and Mexican Coins, 24th edition.
