We Study, Buy and Sell a Wide Range of Australian Tokens

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Book on Australian Tradesman’s Tokens
The Definitive Guide to Australian Tradesman’s Tokens

Right throughout the early part of the 19th century, many Australian merchants were faced with a significant shortage of low-denomination coins that could be used for small transactions on a daily basis. Individual merchants and tradesmen began to distribute their own copper tokens to customers from 1849 onwards.

Although they were issued by grocers; general stores; drapers; pawnbrokers and haberdasheries, these tokens performed all the ordinary functions of the official coinage. Nearly all tradesman’s tokens are heavily worn and therefore relatively common, while the rarest and finest known examples command tens of thousands of dollars. 

A collection of Australian tokens from the mid to late 1800s can show the type of retailers active in those days and can illustrate the regions that were important to the Australian economy. They provide a tangible link to many businessmen making their way in the world over 150 years ago. 

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