Great Britain, shilling, 1835. Minted in the last year of the reign of King William IV at the Royal Mint in London, this coin bears the date of the first settlement of Melbourne. Like the 1845 shilling it shows wear resulting from long circulation in Australia. Had it been used in Britain it would have been withdrawn from circulation long before it became as worn as this.
27/22/21
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Great Britain, penny, probably 1850s. The worn face of this coin highlights the long circulation of 19th-century money in Australia. Copper coins were replaced by smaller bronze pieces from 1860. This coin went out of circulation by 1863, and was probably lost before then. Note the pick mark where the archaeologist marked the coin as it was being dug up.
27/12/01
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Australia, J. McFarlane, penny. McFarlane had a grocery store on the corner of Elizabeth and Lonsdale streets in 1850-51. He had these penny tokens made in England, probably in 1850. The reverse of the token has the legend Peace and Plenty, and shows a female figure representing the colony of Victoria, with a lion representing the Imperial power bringing peace, and a sheep representing the plenty brought by agriculture. Tokens were often produced by private firms as advertisements, and used as legal tender due to the shortage of small change in Australia in the middle of the nineteenth century. By 1862 all tokens were removed from circulation in the colony. The loss of this piece can therefore probably be dated between 1851 and 1862.
00/00/01 Spoil heap - location unknown
Professor Holloway, c. 1857-58, London. Professor Holloways ointments and pills were widely used Victoria. The British company had large numbers of token pennies and halfpennies made and sent to Australia to advertise their products from 1857.
00/00/01 Spoil heap - location unknown
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China, Chekiang Province, 10 cash, 1906. Note the dragon in the centre of the coin. This coin may have been used as a gaming piece or retained as a memento by a Chinese migrant. Chekiang Province was a coastal province situated well north of the port of Canton, from which most migrants to Australia (mostly indentured workers) sailed.
00/00/01 Spoil heap - location unknown
British, threepenny piece, 1857. 00/00/01 Spoil heap - location unknown
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