One Saturday morning while waiting for Fundy Coins to open uptown I spotted a new shop on King Street and since it was the only thing open, I went in to browse. There was a decent assortment of antiques and such, but there wasn’t a lot that caught my eye until
I eyed a pin in a box with a label marked, “50 cents to a dollar.” It ended up costing a dollar.
The pin is about the size of a 25-cent piece, but resembling a loonie in shape and design, except that’s a bit of an exaggerated bill on that loon! The words, “No GST” appear in the design too. On the back it has engraved, “Made in NB,” and a New Brunswick telephone number. When I looked up the phone number, it showed a business near Moncton.
R and R Antiques and Collectibles – a new shop on King Street in Saint John
I contacted the business to see if they remembered the pin. The current owner, Terry Mollins told me that he did recall that item. He told me it was made before he came into ownership of the business in 1989 or 1990, which would make sense since the Goods and Service Tax came into being January 1st, 1991. Terry said it was a promotional pin made by the shop “as a message against the proposed GST.” The name of the business at that time was Rockcliffe Trophies.
The current shop is called Premium Awards and Recognition and is located at 164 Bateman Mill Road, Shediac Cape, NB.