Newfoundland was the only British colony in North America to strike gold coins for general circulation. This was remarkable given that it was one of the poorest British possessions in North America and with an economy largely based on the barter system. This book explores the history of Newfoundland through its coinage. It presents fascinating new details for each year that gold coins were minted, the existing distribution of these scarce coins, a survey of the greatest collections ever assembled, and the provenances of the rarest of the gold coins.

Harvey Richer is professor of astronomy at the University of British Columbia. He has published over 140 scientific papers in peer—reviewed journals and is one of the largest Canadian users of the Hubble Space Telescope. Professor Richer was the 2014 recipient of the Carlyle S. Beals Award of the Canadian Astronomical Society given for lifetime achievement. Recently he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the foremost academic society in the country.

Harvey Richer's profile page

• Short-listed, Historic Sites of Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage & History Book Award

In this small volume, Richer gives a detailed historical account of how the colony of Newfoundland came to possess its own mintage of gold coins during a short period of the nineteenth century. He places the story of the gold coin in the context of Newfoundland and Labrador history, and also outlines its place in global coin collecting circles. The high production quality of the book with a hard cover, glossy pages, and crisp illustrations suits the gold value of the subject matter.