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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.
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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 low value. 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).