My brother found this coin while doing some landscaping, unfortunatly its fairly corroded as it was found about half a metre under ground

all i can make out is its 1850 victoria, all my net searches have not matched both sides of the coin, so i was wondering if anyone could give me better info on what it is.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/sag...pg?t=1168411456

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/sag...pg?t=1168411654

any help is greatly appreciated

Hi Sagebomb,
It is a Melbourne Hide and DeCarle penny token. Below is a link to more details about it:

http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/coins/1851/hi...arle_token.html

Wow, Thanks hussalo, That would explain why all my searches wernt to successful. Cheers mate, that really helps

Sagebomb,there is a lot of interest in the traders' tokens from both Australian & New Zealand collectors,like myself,as in a sense,these were actually the first Australian coins.

New Zealand also had a traders' token issue as well.I do collect them myself,but there are some rarities such as the Morris Marks 1d. from Auckland,which is unique in 2 respects - being the only brass piece of the series,plus it also is the only one that has a milled edge.

I do have a few scarce pieces such as the Lipman Levy 1/2d. & 1d. from Wellington.I was given a holed example of the Lipman Levy 1d. a few years back for around NZ$20 by a friend who sadly passed away back in November 2004.A friend in the numismatic trade gave me a holed example of the Lipman Levy 1/2d. a few years back as a free gift,as I helped him out,plus bought quite a bit of stuff off him.

Aidan.

hey mate, cheers for the repley

Yeah i would like to get basically one of each type of coin nz has issued (just a dream but a good ambition)

Prior to this piece my bro found my earliest coins where mostly early 1900's so i was really happy with this find

Sagebomb,New Zealand's first proper coins were issued in 1933,but there are also some scarce pieces,including the very controversial 2004 5c. coin,which got a bit of coverage on T.V. & on TradeMe.Prior to 1933,it was all British coins that were legal tender,but Aussie coins were in circulation,albeit,illegally,from 1910.The Aussie gold 1/2 & 1 Sovereign coins were the only Aussie coins that were ever legal tender in New Zealand.

Personally,I reckon the traders' tokens are much more interesting than the coins.I have always been a very strong critic of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's issuing policies,especially with regards to all those medal-coins that are churned out.Collectors have been ripped off by the R.B.N.Z. for years.Fortunately,I am not one of them.

Aidan.