AFTER MY FIRST OLD COIN AND I NAILED A BEAUT....

[Des from down under]

Hi from new zealand...isin't it strange how the best finds are sometimes easy and then you hunt for hours for junk..i was hoping for my first old colonial coin and researching an old forgotten area of the 1800 in an old n/z war book i decided to pay a visit and see if i could maybe get a hint of the site ...Well ...I pulled up in the ute walked twenty paces, turned on the machine and swung a small arc....hullo..straight away a good solid coin hit..impossible i thought, went over again and something showed small, 6 inches deep, turned off the g.t.i and cut a circle around the spot i focused on with my pig stiker and pulled a plug of loose dirt out...yeeha!! there was an old looking thing I new was an old coin by the size of it all brown and dirty looking..that was it, off home and I didnt know how to clean it, so went on this site and spotted a hint about toothpaste, so quietly washed it and rubbed the paste on it a few times ...my excitement grew as I saw old figures and a crest on one side and on the other side below a figure of (I think) queen victoria, the numbers 1..8..5..0, started to materialize....
I just had to share this with someone as this is a real oldie for our country as back then the poms were scrapping hard with the maoris and the country was just being colonised.
I would appreciate any opinions on this as I have never seen the like, nor has anyone I know...coin experts I thank you in advance and thanks for sharing this with me......des

 

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[cedarratt]

What luck thats a nice find!!!

 

[mlayers]

Nice looking old coin. Sorry I am no help in IDing it.....Matt

 

[ivan salis]

IDed --- its a private issued merchants of australia 1858 peace & plenty token ( with the gold boom there was a huge shortage of small change)--- melbourne victoria (on front) with seated woman --kangaroo and big bird of some type with shield in between-- equal to penny in value -- they were outlawed for use in 1863 * queen victoria offically declared tokens illegal in 1863 and the outlaying colonies followed suit shortly afterward , with tasmania being last to outlaw them in 1876. -- value (old book mind you ) vg us $3 ---fine $7 --- vf --$12 ----xf ---$75

 

[BandB1]

Sweet find, Congrats!

Good luck,
HH.

 

[Mackaydon]

Spot on, Ivan.
Here's more, including a pic:

Obverse: Australian Arms with risen sun as crest. Emu on left and kangaroo on right supporting shield. ADVANCE AUSTRALIA on scroll. PEACE & PLENTY above, round within beaded rim.
Reverse: Justice seated with scales in right hand and cornucopia in left. MELBOURNE VICTORIA above, round within beaded rim. 1858 in exergue.

And yes, it was the explosion of the population after the discovery of gold that created the coin shortage.

http://www.australianstamp.com/coin-web/aust/earlyaus/tokens/pe58ptok.htm
Don.........

 

[ivan salis]

there is said to be 4 varient types by the way .

 

[Des from down under]

YOU GUYS ARE GUNS FOR SURE..MY MILLION DOLLAR COIN JUST TOOK A DIVE LOL..BUT THANKS FOR THAT ..THE ZERO AT THE END WAS TROUBLING ME AS IT COULD HAVE BEEN AN EIGHT..NOW I KNOW ..THANKS AGAIN...DES

 

[RPG]

Nice token Des. Glad to see you still getting out. How's the weather down there? We're having nice weather here with the exception of all the rain. Got another couple inches last night. Looks good this weekend though.

Good Luck
Randy

 

[Mackaydon]

Ivan:
Right on, again. And those four variant types (and errors) are noted and described at the bottom of the site I referenced above.
Don...

 

[hikeinmts]

Nice find, Des. Yours is one of the oldest coins seen on this site......not old, as far as numbers of years old, but old, as
one of the first in that area. Hope you get to go back many times, and find many many more "old" coins.

 

[CRUSADER]

Good start to your token collection

 

[tinpan]

WTG, Gee you have found some nice finds lately 1850's shell casing 1850,s penny and now you have an 1850's token all relate to the time of the New Zealand Native Wars. Hope you find a british button next. The site a battlefeild ?

tinpan

 

[allen]

you are the first person to see that
token in a century and a half !!

 

[Des from down under]

thanks guys for your encouragment... hi tinpan, the old dissapeared site was a supply depot and only saw small skirmishing...cheers des

 

[romeo-1]

Nice find! I like to see the merchant tokens from abroad!