Convict Tokens
Convict tokens are coins, smoothed and engraved with a message of affection for loved ones, by people sentenced to transportation to New South Wales, now Australia, during the 18th and 19th centuries. These momentos are a valuable insight into the emotional and personal experience of people whose historical representation is otherwise limited to their criminal status.
Copper coins were most often transformed into tokens, due to the softness of this metal. After smoothing the coin, a sharp tool was used to engrave or stipple the surface with the desired design.
Some convicted people paid for the services of peers who were literate, skilled craftspeople or metal workers to make their tokens, while others fashioned their own. Bonds were likely formed between prisoners, as they trusted and collaborated with one another to create these meaningful pieces.

Tokens often include the name or initials of the convicted person and their loved one or ones. As well as the length of the sentence, dates of the conviction and pictures. Tokens also incorporated known verses and motifs rich in meaning, such as love hearts, figures in chains and anchors.
‘When this you see, remember me’ is a popular phrase that featured on objects exchanged between loved ones about to be separated, across social classes, including convict tokens. Many are also pierced, designed to be worn close to the recipient’s body on a chain.
Convict tokens express heartbreak, fear and love, and are a rare expression of agency for many who never had the opportunity to voice their own experience or defend their actions. Moreover, the emotive nature of these tokens is distinct against the cold authority of official documentation, that record convictions, sentence and conduct.
Historical Legacy
British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger’s colonisation of New South Wales as a penal colony in 1786 initiated the transportation of people convicted of felonies. In 1787, the First Fleet departed with 763 prisoners.
Scholars estimate that around 160,000 people were taken against their will to New South Wales. However, transportation was abolished in 1840. The end of transportation was associated with other causes gaining traction in Britain at the time, such as the abolition of transatlantic enslavement and colonial independence.
The National Museum of Australia holds 315 convict tokens, ranging from 1762 to 1856- the world’s largest collection. Most of the tokens were acquired by the museum in 2008, from British dealer and collector Timothy Millett.
Millett’s mission to research the people named on the tokens and uncover their stories was regularly obstructed by families wishing to conceal their ancestor’s criminal conviction. This attests to the difficult and often unaddressed legacy of the history of convict transportation, and associated objects.