The Vexator Canadiensis tokens (also known as the Vexator Canadensis tokens) are thought to be politically satirical tokens produced in either Quebec City or Montreal sometime in the 1830s.[1] The tokens present a very crude image of a vaguely male bust on their obverse, and a female figure on the reverse. The legends on either side were deliberately designed so that they are hard to definitively read, but are commonly known as the "vexators" based on a common interpretation of its obverse legend.[2] Depending on the interpretation of the inscriptions, they can either be taken as a form of satirical protest against either an unpopular Upper Canada governor, or William IV as a "tormentor of Canada", or more simply, depicting a fur trapper.[3] Since all of these interpretations are possible, the ambiguity would allow the issuer from escaping being cited for sedition.[4]
Despite the date of 1811 (or for one unique version, 1810), appearing on its reverse, it has long been thought to have been issued sometime in the 1830s, the backdating serving as a way to circumvent regulations against importing contemporary tokens.[5] At least three main varieties are known,[6] though additional die variations are known to exist. Recent numismatic scholarship has questioned the long-standing assumption that the tokens were issued in the 1830s, and may have in fact been issued closer to the date that appears on them.[7] They were not produced in large numbers, and typical examples start at several hundred C$ and up.[8]