History of Bradford Coins and Stamps, Designer of the Cairns Tourist Dollar
Hi, I’m John Bradford Snr, founder of Bradford Coins.
I became interested in coins and banknotes when I was 20. At the time, I was working as a labourer on a cane farm, living on a fixed income, and our first child had just been born. One day, I saw a pre-decimal coin and banknote collection set out in a display case. I was so impressed that I decided to build a collection of my own.
In 1980, I chose to turn my hobby into a business. I only learned much later that I was among the first ten coin dealers to open a brick-and-mortar shop in Australia. I also had support from a leading Adelaide coin dealer. They produced what is believed to be Australia’s first coin catalogue. I still have the first two volumes.
We opened in Cairns, Far North Queensland, when the population was about 20,000. It didn’t take long to realise we couldn’t survive by trading only in coins and banknotes. That’s when I decided to expand into precious metals. It made sense because several goldfields were within travelling distance of our shop.
In 1982, customers brought several Hawaiian Tourist Dollars into the shop. I saw straight away that something like that would make a great Australian souvenir—especially for Cairns. We registered the designs and secured the copyright for the Cairns, Townsville, and Rockhampton Tourist Dollars. The idea soon spread across Australia, with many cities creating their own versions. On 4 March 1982, we received a Certificate of Registration of a Design for the Cairns Tourist Dollar.