Coins of the Newfoundland dollar facts for kids

Newfoundland, as a separate British colony, produced its own decimal currency between 1865 and 1947. The coins of Newfoundland are of historical importance as Newfoundland was a British colony until 1907, and a Dominion until 1949, when Newfoundland and Labrador became the tenth province of Canada.

Traders' tokens

Newfoundland Rutherford HalfPenny Token (St. John's) c. 1840

Rutherford brothers

The first Newfoundland traders' tokens were Halfpenny tokens issued by brothers Robert & I.S. Rutherford in St John's in 1840–41. There are two varieties of the tokens – a dated type and an undated type.

In 1846, after a fire destroyed the St. John's store, two additional Rutherford Brothers (George and Andrew) opened a new store in Harbour Grace and issued a second set of tokens, inscribed RUTHERFORD BROS. These pieces were minted by Ralph Heaton & Sons of Birmingham, England (commonly known as Heaton's Mint). These pieces are unique in one respect – they have the 'RH' mintmark above the date.

The Peter M'Auslane farthing

Another early Newfoundland traders' token was issued in the 1840s by Peter M'Auslane, a general merchant in St John's. Following the same 1846 St. John's fire which destroyed his business, he left Newfoundland and settled in Upper Canada (now Ontario).

The obverse of this very rare piece is inscribed 'PETER M'AUSLANE St. JOHNS NEWFOUNDLAND', and the reverse is inscribed 'SELLS ALL SORTS OF SHOP & STORE GOODS'.

Anonymous issues

These pieces do not bear either an issuer's name or a place name. There were two issues of these pieces: a Halfpenny dated 1858 and a Halfpenny dated 1860.

The 1858 Halfpenny token, which is very rare, has a ship on the obverse similar to the Ship Halfpenny tokens from Prince Edward Island. The date 1858 alone appears across the centre of the reverse.

The 1860 Halfpenny token, which is scarce has the date 1860 in the centre of the obverse inside a circle. The inscription FISHERY RIGHTS FOR NEWFOUNDLAND is enclosed outside the inner circle. The reverse of this piece is inscribed RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT going around the outside and AND FREE TRADE is in the centre of the reverse. This piece makes a political statement on promoting the fishing industry and asserting a claim to responsible government.

Newfoundland dollar coinage (1865–1947)

In 1865, Newfoundland changed over to decimal currency following the footsteps of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Pattern coins were issued in 1864, as were specimen cents.

Newfoundland was the only British North American colony to have its own gold coin (though the Ottawa mint also produced gold sovereigns). Originally, a gold dollar was considered, but it was decided it might be lost by the fishermen due to its small size. Thus, a two-dollar denomination was chosen for the gold coin. Three (equivalent) denominations were indicated on the coin, as it was denominated as $2, 200 cents, and 100 pence (equivalent value in sterling).

One thing that differentiates the later versions of the dollar coins is that they feature the crowned Percy Metcalfe effigy of King George VI. Usually, this portrait is used for Crown colonies such as Hong Kong, Malaya, or India, whereas for normal Canadian coins, an uncrowned effigy of the King by Thomas Humphrey Paget is used.

Complete type set of Newfoundland dollar coinage

Coins of the Newfoundland dollar

Monarch	Value	Obverse/Reverse	Issue date	Design
Victoria	001 1 cent		1865, 1872(H) 1873, 1876(H) 1880, 1885 1888, 1890 1894, 1896	Horace Morehen (des) Thomas Minton (eng)
	005 5 cents		1865, 1870 1872(H), 1873 1876(H), 1880–81 1882(H), 1885 1888, 1890 1894, 1896	Leonard Charles Wyon
	010 10 cents		1865, 1870 1872(H), 1873 1876(H), 1880 1882(H), 1885 1888, 1890 1894, 1896	Leonard Charles Wyon
	020 20 cents		1865, 1870 1872(H), 1873 1876(H), 1880–81 1882(H), 1885 1888, 1890 1894, 1896 1899, 1900	Leonard Charles Wyon and Horace Morehen
	050 50 cents		1870, 1872(H) 1873–74, 1876(H) 1880–81, 1882(H) 1885, 1888 1894, 1896 1898–1900	Leonard Charles Wyon
	200 2 dollars		1865, 1870 1872, 1880–81 1882(H), 1885 1888	Leonard Charles Wyon
Edward VII	001 1 cent		1904(H) 1907 1909	George William de Saulles (obv) Horace Morehen (rev)
	005 5 cents		1903 1904(H) 1908	George William de Saulles
	010 10 cents		1903 1904(H)	George William de Saulles
	020 20 cents		1904(H)	George William de Saulles (obv) W.H.J. Blakemore(rev)
	050 50 cents		1904(H) 1907–09	George William de Saulles (obv) W.H.J. Blakemore (rev)
George V	001 1 cent		1913 1917(C) 1919–20(C) 1929 1936	Edgar Bertram MacKennal (obv) Horace Morehen (rev)
	005 5 cents		1912 1917(C) 1919(C) 1929	Edgar Bertram MacKennal (obv) George William de Saulles (rev)
	010 10 cents		1912 1917(C) 1919(C)	Edgar Bertram MacKennal (obv) George William de Saulles (rev)
	020 20 cents		1912	Edgar Bertram MacKennal (obv) W.H.J. Blakemore (rev)
	025 25 cents		1917(C) 1919(C)	Edgar Bertram MacKennal (obv) W.H.J. Blakemore (rev)
	050 50 cents		1911 1917–19(C)	Edgar Bertram MacKennal (obv) W.H.J. Blakemore (rev)
George VI	001 1 cent		1938, 1940 1941(C), 1942 1943–44(C) 1947(C)	Percy Metcalfe (obv) Walter J. Newman (rev)
	005 5 cents		1938, 1940–43(C) 1944–47(C)	Percy Metcalfe (obv) George William de Saulles (rev)
	010 10 cents		1938, 1940 1941–44(C) 1945–47(C)	Percy Metcalfe (obv) George William de Saulles (rev)