Bust and harp tokens

The Bust and Harp tokens were tokens originally issued anonymously in the mid-1820s, and circulated primarily in Lower Canada (present-day Quebec). 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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4]