Habitant token

They were issued in large numbers and can be easily acquired by the modern collector, though some varieties are rare and command a premium.

These tokens replaced the popular bouquet sous that the banks of Lower Canada had previously introduced into circulation.

He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838 and was well known for wearing habitant clothing almost as uniform.

That it is essentially necessary to establish a uniform Copper Currency, and after much consideration he is of opinion that if the Government would instruct its Departments to receive the Bank tokens at one and two Cents respectively, the public would do so likewise, and by this means a great deal of the inconvenience would be removed.

Taylor purchased a number of coining tools and dies from the Soho Mint, where the original Habitant tokens (along with many subsequent Lower Canadian issues) had been created.

He is known to have created mules using the reverse of the 1837 Habitant token and the obverse of the later "Front View" Bank of Montreal penny from 1842 in copper, brass, and silver.

[17] The image depicts the Habitant wearing traditional winter clothing, including a touque, a hooded frock coat, moccasins, and a "ceinture flechee" sash.

A large Saint Andrew's Cross divides the shield into four segments, and in each of these spaces a heraldic symbol representing different settler populations: at top, a rose for the English heritage of the population, a thistle for the Scots, a sprig of clover to represent the Irish, and at bottom a beaver for the French that originally settled the territory and traded in furs.

[24] The first detailed study of the series and its variants was The Habitant Tokens of Lower Canada (Province of Quebec) written by Canadian numismatist Eugene Courteau, published in 1927.