Obverse and reverse image of a typical "Bouquet Sou" Token, one side showing a wreath, "Token Montreal" its value, and the other side a bunch of heraldic flowers surrounded by the words "Agriculture & Commerce" and "Bas-Canada".
Bouquet sou were a series of tokens that were created for use primarily within Lower Canada in the mid- to late-1830s. Roughly equivalent in value to a half penny, the "bouquet sou" were so called because they displayed a group of heraldic flowers tied together with a ribbon on their obverse. The group of flowers were encircled by one of several legends, which might say "Trade & Agriculture / Lower Canada", "Agriculture & Commerce / Bas Canada" or some variant of these that might also substitute the name of the issuing bank. The other side most typically gave the denomination of "un sou", surrounded by a wreath and the words "Bank Token" and "Montreal". There are a large variety of these tokens, distinguished primarily by the number and variety of flowers that appear in the "bouquet", along with the differences in the legends that appeared on either side of the token. They were initially issued by the banks of Lower Canada, and were later imitated by speculators who produced tokens that looked similar, but were underweight for their denomination. These coins also circulated to Upper Canada, as at least one archeology dig attests.[1] Large numbers of these tokens were produced and many examples can easily be obtained for only a few Canadian dollars, though a few rare varieties can command significantly higher prices.[2]
Both sides of the first "bouquet sou" token (Breton 713, LC-2), issued in 1835. This version includes the wrong spelling for "sou", here pluralized to "sous".
In both Lower and Upper Canada in the early 19th century, there was little in the way of circulating coinage, and merchants struggled to use what coinage there was available that came in a variety of denominations from numerous countries, including, England, the United States and Mexico.[3] To remedy this situation, the Bank of Montreal issued the first bouquet sou token in July 1835.[4] They were minted in New York State, and about 500,000 pieces were created.[5] This first bouquet sou had a floral design consisting of shamrocks, roses, thistles and ears of wheat, surrounded by an inscription saying "Trade & Commerce / Lower Canada". The reverse depicts the denomination as "Un Sous", surrounded by a laurel wreath and the legend "Bank Token Montreal".[6] The flowers and leaves used on the obverse represented the immigrant peoples of Lower Canada, the shamrock representing Ireland, the rose for England, the thistles a symbol for Scotland, and the wheat representing the staple crop of Quebec. The inscription for the denomination was in error, as in French it ought to have read "Un Sou", using the singular form of "sou", and it is thought that the dies for this initial design were engraved by a die maker not fluent in French.[7] The next batch of these tokens issued by the Bank of Montreal included the name of the bank in place of "Bank Token Montreal", and it is thought that the original, anonymous legend was used as the bank had not yet received official permission from the provincial government to issue the tokens, which came the following year.[8]
Belleville series
Bouquet sou minted at Belleville in 1838.
While the Montreal banks issued bouquet sou of the correct weight for their denomination, speculators began importing tokens of similar design but of slightly lower weight, thereby profiting from the difference in face value from the cost of having the coin made. The exchange broker Dexter Chapin imported a large quantity of bouquet sou that were minted in Belleville, New Jersey.[9] At least 13 of these Belleville issued bouquet sou were created by this mint and then imported into Lower Canada. The initial issues came from dies cut by John Gibbs of the Belleville mint.[10]
"Rebellion Sou"
An example of a Bouquet Sou dating to the 1837 (the year of the Lower Canada rebellion), called the "Rebellion Sou" (Breton 716, LC-4), as it contains a star and liberty cap in its design.
On October 23–24, 1837, the Assembly of the Six Counties (French: Assemblée des six-comtés) was held in Saint-Charles, Lower Canada. It was an assembly of Patriote leaders and approximately 6,000 followers, protesting the Russell Resolutions. It was a prelude to the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. At this assembly a boycott was proposed for all English-produced goods along with the use of British coinage.[11] As a result, the bouquet sou became popular within the province and became known as the "Sous des Patriotes".[12]
In 1837 a new die was created for a bouquet sou being produced with a legend naming La Banque du Peuple.[13] Designed by the Montreal engraver Joseph Arnault,[14] the reverse includes two emblems of liberty: a star to the left and a Phrygian cap to the right. The star was a symbol popular in contemporary U.S. coinage, perhaps suggesting a willingness to join the union, and the cap, also known as a "Liberty Cap", represented freedom from British rule.[15] A manuscript has been found in the National Archives of Canada claiming that this token was released in Saint-Charles on the first day of the Assembly of the Six Counties.[16] As it was released in the same year as subsequent Lower Canada Rebellion, it became known as the "Rebellion Sou". It has been claimed that these symbols were introduced by an employee of the Bank who was a member of Société des Fils de la Liberté, a militant wing of the Assembly of the Six Counties,[17] or by someone at the bank sympathetic to their cause.[18] All of the bank's directors came under suspicion of being rebels, and warrants were later issued for their arrest.[19]
Birmingham series
As the popularity of the bouquet sou grew in Lower Canada, further anonymous speculators started to import new tokens from Birmingham, England, from the mint that designed the original bouquet sou for the Bank of Montreal.[20] These bouquet sou tend to have the legend "Bas Canada", though at least one issue uses the English equivalent "Lower Canada".[21]
Montreal issues
As demand for the bouquet sou continued to grow, additional varieties were minted within Montreal. These varieties varied considerably in terms of quality, size and weight.[22] All of the legends of these tokens are in French.[23]
Replacement and redemption
The many unofficial and underweight versions of the bouquet sou reached a critical point, and the banks in Lower Canada stopped accepting them.[24] To replace the bouquet sous, the Montreal banks began to issue half pennies and pennies in what became known as the Habitant token design.[25] An ordinance issued in June 1838 declared that the only legal tender than would be accepted within Lower Canada were copper coins issued by the United Kingdom, American cents, and the new bank-issued "Habitant" tokens.[26] As bouquet sou were returned to the banks, they were redeemed for the new coinage, and evidently the old bouquet sous found a new existence in Upper Canada where they were shipped, as the ordinance did not apply there.[27]
Numismatic study
This coin series was first described in numismatic literature by the early Canadian numismatist R.W. McLachlan in his book Canadian Numismatics, published in 1886. He called the coins the "un sou" series, and was the first to comprehensively describe their background, characteristics and to describe their manufacture, where known.[28] He described more than 40 varieties of the tokens, arranging the chief varieties into nine different groups, arranged by the similarity of their design and who was thought to have created them. He noted key differences in the type and number of heraldic flowers used on the reverse, the differences in the legends that were used, and the shape of the ribbon used to tie the bouquet.[29]
The name "bouquet sou" to describe these tokens came from Canadian numismatist Pierre-Napoléon Breton, who depicted many of the varieties in his book Illustrated History of Coins and Tokens Relating to Canada, originally published in 1890.[30] In his Breton numbering system for these tokens, they run from 670-716,[31] totaling 46 main varieties. Breton roughly followed the order of the tokens as described in McLachlan's earlier book, which ended up with many of the tokens produced later appearing earlier in his numbering system, and those that were produced first at the end. Breton's illustrations are finely detailed, and some modern publications still use them (as opposed to using photographs of the tokens) to help collectors distinguish between the many varieties.[32][33] Breton sorted the bouquet sou according to the number of leaves contained within the wreath on the obverse.[34]
Modern guides list over 50 tokens belonging to the bouquet sou series, many of which have significant variants, including die orientation, planchet thickness and being struck on different metals to name a few.
Overstruck examples
McLachlan also mentioned that he was aware of examples of the Bouquet Sou tokens that had been overstruck on top of earlier token issues, including brass examples of a Bust and Harp token and Tiffins tokens.[35] More modern studies of the bouquet sou have discovered additional varieties that were unknown to the 19th century numismatists, including at least one issue that was struck over previously minted coins. These include a few examples struck over Blacksmith tokens, possibly in a bid to covert "uncirculatable" tokens to the more popular and acceptable bouquet sou.[36] Numismatist R.C. Willey described a number of additional, earlier token types that had otherwise been "rendered obsolete when the banks would no longer take them except by weight".[37] He listed additional examples of Bouquet Sous that had been overstruck on a Brock token, a Ships Colonies and Commerce token, and on a Sloop token.[38]
The double florin, or four-shilling piece, was a British coin produced by the Royal Mint between 1887 and 1890. One of the shortest-lived of all British coin denominations, it was struck in only four years. Its obverse, designed by Joseph Boehm and engraved by Leonard Charles Wyon, depicts Queen Victoria, whilst the reverse, featuring national symbols of the United Kingdom, was designed by Wyon based on the coinage of Charles II.
The five pound British gold coin, or quintuple sovereign, has a nominal value of five pounds sterling. It has been struck intermittently since 1820, though as a circulation coin only in 1887, 1893 and 1902. Through most of its history, it has depicted, on its reverse, Benedetto Pistrucci's portrayal of St George and the Dragon, which has traditionally been used on the sovereign, or one-pound gold coin.
The two-cent piece was produced by the Mint of the United States for circulation from 1864 to 1872 and for collectors in 1873. Designed by James B. Longacre, there were decreasing mintages each year, as other minor coins such as the nickel proved more popular. It was abolished by the Mint Act of 1873.
The City Bank of Montreal was an early bank founded in Montreal in 1833, when it was part of Lower Canada. It was founded as a counterpart to the Bank of Montreal, whose politically conservative directors made it difficult for leading liberals to do business in the province. During its existence, it issued a number of tokens for use in trade, and is known for producing many varieties of the Bouquet sou, and for co-issuing the Habitant token along with the other leading banks of Montreal in the late 1830s. It also issued paper money.
In Canada, a penny is an out-of-production coin worth one cent, or 1⁄100 of a dollar. According to the Royal Canadian Mint, the official term for the coin is the one-cent piece, but in practice the terms penny and cent predominate. Penny was likely readily adopted because the previous coinage in Canada was the British monetary system, where Canada used British pounds, shillings, and pence as coinage alongside U.S. decimal coins and Spanish milled dollars.
This glossary of numismatics is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to numismatics and coin collecting, as well as sub-fields and related disciplines, with concise explanations for the beginner or professional.
The Magdalen Island penny token was a token that was originally issued for use on that island and throughout Lower Canada and the Maritime Provinces in the early 19th century. This token was issued in 1815 by Sir Isaac Coffin, who was granted the island by the British government in reward for his loyalty to the crown during the American Revolutionary War. While not a rare coin, it is hard to find in anything but worn condition, and even prices for pieces in the lowest grades tend to start at about at about C$100 and go up rapidly from there.
The livre was the currency of Kingdom of France and its predecessor states of Francia and West Francia from 781 to 1794. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of coins and of units of account.
Canada has an extensive history with regard to its currencies. Prior to European contact, indigenous peoples in Canada used items such as wampum and furs for trading purposes, which continued when trade with Europeans began. During the period of French colonization, coins were introduced, as well as one of the first examples of paper currency by a western government. During the period of British colonization, additional coinage was introduced, as well as banknotes. The Canadian colonies gradually moved away from the British pound and adopted currencies linked to the United States dollar. With Confederation in 1867, the Canadian dollar was established. By the mid-20th century, the Bank of Canada was the sole issuer of paper currency, and banks ceased to issue banknotes.
The pound was the currency of the Canadas until 1858. It was subdivided into 20 shillings (s), each of 12 pence (d). In Lower Canada, the sou was used, equivalent to a halfpenny. Although the £sd accounting system had its origins in sterling, the Canadian pound was never at par with sterling's pound.
The coins of Canada are produced by the Royal Canadian Mint and denominated in Canadian dollars ($) and the subunit of dollars, cents (¢). An effigy of the reigning monarch always appears on the obverse of all coins. There are standard images which appear on the reverse, but there are also commemorative and numismatic issues with different images on the reverse.
Since the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the Royal Canadian Mint has struck Summer and Winter Olympic coins to mark Games held in Canada.
The Newfoundland 2-dollar coin was issued in intermittent years between 1865 and 1888. It was the only circulation gold coin issued by a British colony. Although few coins were issued, it was broadly used in Newfoundland and eastern Canada. The coin became scarce in 1894 because of hoarding following the collapse of Newfoundland's banks and monetary system.
The copper-nickel three-cent piece, often called a three-cent nickel piece or three-cent nickel, was designed by US Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre and struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1865 to 1889. It was initially popular, but its place in commerce was supplanted by the five-cent piece, or nickel.
Blacksmith tokens are a form of evasion currency that was in circulation primarily in Lower Canada and Upper Canada along with neighboring areas, such as the northern parts of New York and New England in the mid-1820 to 1830s. They were not, strictly speaking counterfeits, but instead skirted around the laws of the time by being similar to officially circulating coinage, but bearing different legends, or bearing no legends or dates at all, so it could not be claimed that they were truly imitating circulating coinage fully. The tokens were designed to resemble worn examples of English or Irish copper coinage, most often with a crude profile of either George II or George III in profile on the obverse and an image of Britannia or an Irish harp on the reverse. They were typically underweight when compared to officially sanctioned halfpenny coinage, but were accepted along with many other unofficially issued tokens due to a lack of sufficient small denomination coinage in circulation at the time.
The Habitant token were a series of tokens that were created for use primarily within Lower Canada and were issued in 1837. Produced as a successor to the popular bouquet sous, these tokens depicted a Habitant on the obverse, a traditional depiction of a French-Canadian farmer in winter clothing, and the coat of arms for the City of Montreal on the reverse. The tokens were issued in both one penny/deux sous and half penny/un sou denominations by the leading commercial banks of Montreal. They were issued in large numbers and can be easily acquired by the modern collector, though some varieties are rare and command a premium.
Pierre-Napoléon Breton (1858–1917), was an early Canadian numismatist, best known for publishing a series of guides on Canadian tokens.
Robert Wallace McLachlan, was a prolific early Canadian numismatist, who published many works focusing primarily on pre-Canadian Confederation coins, tokens and medals. He lived in Montreal, and was for many years the Treasurer and Curator of The Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Journal. Along with fellow early Canadian numismatists Alfred Sandham, and P. N. Breton and Joseph Leroux, his publications are considered to have laid the foundations for Canadian numismatic research.
The Vexator Canadiensis tokens are thought to be politically satirical tokens produced in either Quebec City or Montreal sometime in the 1830s. The tokens present a very crude image of a vaguely male bust on their obverse, and a female figure on the reverse. The legends on either side were deliberately designed so that they are hard to definitively read, but are commonly known as the "vexators" based on a common interpretation of its obverse legend. Depending on the interpretation of the inscriptions, they can either be taken as a form of satirical protest against either an unpopular Upper Canada governor, or William IV as a "tormentor of Canada", or more simply, depicting a fur trapper. Since all of these interpretations are possible, the ambiguity would allow the issuer from escaping being cited for sedition.
The Bust and Harp tokens were tokens originally issued anonymously in the mid-1820s, and circulated primarily in Lower Canada. Due to their anonymous nature, it is not known who placed the order for the original tokens, but they are believed to have been minted in England beginning in 1825. The initial release of the tokens was dated 1825, but a currency regulation issued that same year made the importation of privately issued tokens illegal. As a result, the initial issue was altered and all subsequent issues of these tokens were antedated to 1820 in order to get around this prohibition, which did not prohibit tokens made before this date. They were circulated in large quantities and were widely imitated by minters located in Canada, making for many varieties. Those of particularly poor craftsmanship are considered examples of Blacksmith tokens. They were roughly the size of a contemporaneous half-penny, though generally weighed less. They were widely circulated in Lower Canada for at least 30 years, after which banks began to refuse them as payment except by weight. The more common Bust and Harp tokens can be had for about a few tens of C$, though rarer varieties can command prices in the thousands of dollars.
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