2012 Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Colonial Tokens - 8th Edition

2012 Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Colonial Tokens - 8th Edition

    
The eighth edition of the Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Colonial Tokens is now available from coin dealers, bookstores or the Charlton Press. Token issues which entered circulation in Canada up to Confederation in 1867 will be found in this catalogue.

In colonial times there was a chronic shortage of coinage to support commerce. Provincial governments, chartered banks, merchants and tippling blacksmiths all contributed to a vast array of tokens which circulated in the absence of official copper coinage. Tokens are described in detail, with composition, weight, diameter, die axis, edge and date of issue information. Enlarged illustrations assist the collector in assigning the catalogue number to each token. In the case of particularly complicated issues, flow charts will easily guide the user to the correct identification. The Charlton numbering system is cross referenced to earlier systems devised by Breton, Courteau, Lees, LeRoux, McLachlan, Wood and Willey. Batty, Breton and LeRoux rarity numbers are also included.

Several newly discovered pieces have been listed in the eighth edition, including a rare bouquet sou mule and new varieties of blacksmith tokens. Many images have been added to assist in identification, and some of the descriptions have been revised. An image of the elusive NB-5, the St. John’s N.B. piece, is shown for the first time. The listing of Devins & Bolton counterstamped pieces has been enlarged, and catalogue numbers assigned. Likewise, the Anchor Money listings have been reworked and catalogue numbers supplied, with several new photographs. Merchant and transportation tokens and patterns at the back of the book have been given catalogue numbers. The Hunterstown piece is now priced, together with a number of other extremely rare tokens which formerly lacked specific valuations.

All prices have been carefully reviewed, and many have increased sharply. Rare and popular pieces such as the Prince Edward Island Holey Dollar and Plug, the Bank of Montreal Side View pieces, the Vexators, the Jamaica on Cask and the Bridge tokens have all experienced strong upward revisions. The Rebellion Sou, hardly as rare but certainly popular, has become more expensive, and a Wellington token, WE-11C1, has been a top performer in percentage terms.

Some inevitable downward adjustments have made the lovely New Brunswick penny tokens more affordable; price declines also affect the Magdalen Islands penny in mid-grades, the Wellington penny WE-12 in most grades, the Irishman with Shillelagh and the 1781 North American tokens.

For the beginner with a few colonial pieces, as for the advanced collector, the “Charlton Standard” remains the indispensable resource catalogue.

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