io8 



CASTOROLOGIA. 



tokens in existence did not provide for such sub-divisions of value, 

 and in 1854, Mr. George Simpson McTavish, then in charge of 

 Albany Fort, suggested the issue of metal tokens to meet the re- 

 quirement. With the suggestion which was forwarded to London, 

 Mr. McTavish sent sketches of the proposed tokens, bearing on the 

 obverse, the coat of arms of the Company, — a shield quartered, with 

 a beaver in each quarter, a fox for the crest and two stags as sup- 

 porters ; underneath, the motto " Pro pelle cutem ; " the whole sur- 

 rounded by a wreath of oak leaves ; and on the reverse the mono- 

 gram H. B. ; the initials E. M., for the district "East Main," for 

 which they were specially required ; then the fractional divisions 



THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY'S BEAVER TOKEN. 



y&, }i, %, and also i, for the full unit ; below which, in the orig- 

 inal design appeared the letters M. B., in monogram as it was cus- 

 tomary to write them, thus IVB, signifying "made-beaver" The de- 

 sign was approved of, the dies ordered, and in due course the tokens 

 were forwarded for distribution among the posts in the East Main 

 district, when with disappointment it was found that the monogram 

 M.B., had been misinterpreted by the die-cutters as the separate 

 letters N.B., incorrectly drawn. This curious error has led to the 

 belief that the ' ' made beaver ' ' was sometimes called a ' ' natural 

 beaver, ' ' but this was not the case. 



The extreme value attached by numismatists to the beaver tokens 

 of the North West Company, prepared the way for the following ex- 

 traordinary piece of fraud. Some years after the circulation of the 



