Although counterfeiting coins is recorded during the stay of the First Fleet in Rio-de-Janeiro in 1787 (so that counterfeiting goes back to the earliest days of settlement), there has to be an acceptable ratio of profit over cost. In the circumstances prevailing during the period in which Australian tokens circulated it would hardly have been worth the trouble of counterfeiting them. So, although these tokens are described as being counterfeit, they were most likely produced locally by casting, as requiring the least technical skill, on the authority of the merchant issuer to augment diminishing stocks of tokens, rather than meeting the costs and delay in obtaining further supplies, often from England. It must be kept in mind that there was no formal authority or recognition of tokens, so that the criminal charge of counterfeiting would not apply.
- From Sydney Mint Museum label written by curator, Major HP (Pat) Boland, c1982

Counterfeit Token, Australia: NSW. Penny, 'Advance Australia', copper (CI)

Made:

N14117