The Hornby Island trade token is in its second year. It is a municipal trade token with a face value of $20, and will be valid in trade with participating merchants and artisans on Hornby Island until it expires, Oct. 31, 2019. An accompanying 1 1/4” pin of the Island and orca side ($3) will also be available.
A total of 500 tokens and 800 pins have been minted.
Conservation is the watchword of the island, and is well represented on this year’s coins. The obverse of this year’s Hornby Island trade token depicts the Island with an orca swimming in front, to represent the importance of our resident orca population. The reverse features 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 vitalizes our 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 Park as 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 this year’s issue.
The Hornby Island trade token is a fundraising token. Like a $20 gift card, it is fully backed by money in the bank, so can be used with no loss to the merchant. All profits from this project go to the Hornby Island Community Fund, and the visitors and collectors who take them home help support the entire island.
Last year, the first, the Token Project donated $1,000 to the School Fund (our school burned down last August), and $1,000 to the Community Fund. This year’s token should be a sellout.