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Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 32, 1 November 1929, Page 13

An interesting discovery was made recently nt Normanby, Taranaki, by Mr. B. Bonnett. While ploughing the site of the old Waihi redoubt he unearthed a bronze “token” coin about the size of a penny. It bears the following inscription ; “John Gilmour, New Plymouth, Now Zealand.” On the reverse side are the figures of a Maori canoe and crew on a lake, three fern trees, a flax bush, a kiwi in the foreground, and the outline of Mount Egmont in the background. Mr. Gilmour, of New Plymouth, states that the coin was probably one of a number issued by his father, Mr. John Gilmour, when the latter was in business in New Plymouth in the early days. At that time, he explained, it was not illegal to stamp one’s name on pennies, and this was done by a number of business people, including his father. Later on business people substituted for the endorsed pennies coins or ‘‘tokens'’ of their own issue, and it was probably one of these that has been nnearthed at the old Waihi redoubt.