Robinson Huron Treaty Area 1850 Currency

By Hans Matthews

In 1850 the most common currency in use was based on coinage provided by the mint in Great Britain. Throughout the 1850s, the imperial and colonial governments debated the issue of colonial currency and coinage. The imperial government favored a system where all colonies used currency based on sterling, which could be either British currency or local colonial currency tied to sterling, including a decimalized currency. The colonial governments increasingly favored a decimal monetary system based on the United States dollar, because of the practical implications of the increasing trade with the neighboring United States.

Upper Canada Currency

The Bank of Upper Canada was established in 1821 in York (Toronto, Ontario) under a charter granted by the Province of Upper Canada in 1819. When Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1841 to form the Province of Canada, it was decided that only the bank that held the government accounts should have the right to issue copper tokens. This privilege was enjoyed by the Bank of Montreal until 1848.

Following the passage of the Rebellion Losses Bill in 1849, rioting in Montreal led to the destruction of the legislative buildings and the capital of the province was transferred to Toronto. As a result, the right to issue tokens passed to the Bank of Upper Canada.

Between 1850 and 1857 the Bank of Upper Canada issued a series of penny and halfpenny copper tokens. The obverse

of a penny token issued in 1850 is shown and features a St. George and the dragon motif encircled by the legend BANK OF UPPER CANADA and the date.

The face of the 1850 penny and half penny features the seal for Upper Canada. Upon the creation of Upper Canada, a seal for the province was authorized by royal warrant dated 28 March 1792. The obverse was described as the Calumet of Peace (Peace Pipe) with the Anchor and Sword of State encircled by a Crown of Olives. Above this is a representation of the royal crown. In the upper right hand was the Union Jack, on the seal of 1817 replaced by the new Union Jack of 1801 with the St. Patrick’s Cross. Below are two cornucopias in saltire.

Province of Canada

In June 1851, representatives of the Province of Canada, met in Toronto to discuss the introduction of a joint decimal currency to eventually replace British currency. The Government in London agreed in principle to a decimal coinage.

Following the 1851 conference, the government of the Province of Canada began to move towards decimal currency. The provincial Parliament passed an act to introduce a pound sterling unit in conjunction with decimal fractional coinage. The idea was that the fractional values would correspond to exact values of fractions of the US dollar. The Preamble to the statute expressed the hope that the decimal currency could “hereafter be advantageously made common to all the Provinces of British North America, as being simple and convenient in itself, and well calculated to facilitate their commercial intercourse with other parts of this continent.” A related statute passed in the same session continued the statutory exchange rates for British and US currency used in Canada.