coins and more: 1023) Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada: Trade Tokens & Pins: introduced in 2018 , with a second edition issued in 2019:

1023) Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada: Trade Tokens & Pins: introduced in 2018 , with a second edition issued in 2019:

About Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada:

Hornby Island is a Salish Sea island located near Vancouver Island's Comox Valley. It has a small community of about 1,000 residents and is home to many artists, retired professionals, small business owners, remote workers et al.

Over the past few decades, the island has become popular as a tourist destination during the summer months and its population almost quadruples diring this period. The island offers several leisure time activities including - hiking, mountain biking, marine activities, retreats etc. Several tourists reach the island by boat/ferries from Buckley Bay, Vancouver Island. An airport at Comox Valley provides regional, national and international services.

The chief destinations on Hornby are - Tribune Bay Provincial Park, Helliwell Provincial Park, Ford's Cove, Heron Rocks and Whaling Station Bay. The total land area is about 30 sq. kilometres of which, about 40% is parkland.

The Hornby Island Trade Tokens and Pins - Introduction and first issue in 2018:

Jim Bulmer, an avid coin collector for over five decades, has created a local currency on Hornby Island in British Columbia, drawing inspiration from a collection of Canadian Municipal Trade Tokens (MTTs), which had specimens from all over Canada, including Tofino, Gander, Newfoundland and Inuvik, NWT to Manitoulin Island, Ontario et al.

He spent some time in learning how MTT's work and their history and introduced the concept to Hornby Island.

With a face value of $20, the Tokens introduced by him in 2018, are a large 2 inch solid Brass and multi-coloured Enamel Token and is sold at the customer's request. These tokens are much like a "Souvenir money/currency", with beautiful motifs and a Timely Message, which reflects Hornby Island. The mintage of the first issue (May 2018) was a limited 1,000 pieces.

On the Obverse of the Trade Tokens and Pins, Hornby Island is super-imposed on a Canadian Maple Leaf resting atop Blue Waves from the B.C. Flag. On the upper periphery is inscribed "HORNBY ISLAND BRITISH COLUMBIA". (This inscription relates to the specific area of use)

On the Reverse of the Trade Tokens and Pins, a forester is seen planting a tree and an Orca breaching/emerging from the waves. On the upper periphery is the inscription "GOOD FOR $20 MAY 1 - OCTOBER 31". Towards the lower periphery is seen the theme of 2018 Tokens/Pins - "CONSERVATION" (This inscription details the value of the Token, Period of Validity and the Island's message).

The Pins, on the other hand are 1 inch Brass and Enamel pieces which cost $3. The mintage of the Pins was again a limited 2,000 pieces.

As interest in the Tokens and Pins got generated, through personal efforts, newspaper reports, public meetings, talking to local businesses etc, the concept was accepted by the local residents.

The Trade Token is essentially a fund-raising Token. Like a gift card, it is fully backed by money in the Bank, so can be used with no loss to the merchant. All surplus profits from this Project go to the Hornby Island Community Fund.

In 2018, the Trade Token Project donated $1,000 to the School Fund, which $ 1,000 to the Community Fund. The Project implementers believe that the 2019 Trade Token should be a sell-out.

Thus, Hornby Island has slowly but surely migrated to two forms of currency:

Users can choose which currency to use while shopping/purchasing an item etc.

In an effort to keep the community interest alive and thriving, Hornby Island Trade Tokens have been issued not only as unique collector's items, but also as a way to raise money for both the local businesses and for donation to the Community Fund.

Every time a Token is purchased/bought, the business makes a small profit, but the majority of the proceeds go towards the Hornby Island Community Fund to support local committees. The cost of minting new Tokens is also met from the sale proceeds.

Now over half of the businesses on the island are accepting and selling the tokens. The target is to get every business on the island involved in the project, so that the entire community can benefit from it.

The Token sales do pick up somewhat during the tourist season as tourists like to use these Trade Tokens during their holiday/stay at the Island, but some businesses have still not warmed up to the idea of using Tokens instead of real money.

Second Edition/issues (2019):

The Hornby Island Trade Token is into its second year. The face value of the Trade Token has again been kept uniform at $20 and it has an expiry date of 31.10.2019, much like in 2018. An accompanying Pin of the Island and Orca side (valued at $3) isalso available.

A total mintage of 500 Trade Tokens and 800 Pins is envisaged during 2019.

Conservation is again the watch-word of the island/Token/Pin.

The Obverse and Reverse of the 2019 Hornby Island Trade Token placed side-by-side.

The Obverse of the 2019 Hornby Island Trade Token depicts the Island with an orca swimming in front, to represent the importance of the Island's resident orca population.

The Reverse of the 2019 Hornby Island Trade Token depicts Hornby Island's new K'omoks First Nation Totem Pole, carved by artist Karver Everson, which depicts Thunderbird and Sisiutl - Lords of the Upper and Lower Worlds and a herring beneath, signifying the yearly herring spawn, which vitalises the Island's sea-life - orcas, sea-lions, salmon and countless other varieties of fish and sea birds.

The pole was erected on Hornby Island last August in Helliwell Provincial Parkas a token of friendship and memento of the "unceded land of the Pentlatch People" on which the Hornby Island population resides. The Token Project received permission from Karver to use the totem pole image on the 2019 issue.

For other interesting posts on the Coins and Banknotes of Canada, please visit the following links: