Hudson Bay Company token denomination one Made Beaver. Obverse: The Hudson Bay Company arms. Motto: 'PRO PELLE CUTEM'. Reverse: Inscription, 'HB EM 1 NB'. The 'E.M. stands for East Main: the district where the tokens were used on the east side of James Bay. 'NB' is a die-cutters error, it should read 'MB' for Made Beaver. These trade tokens were probably issued between the dates 1860-70.

By 1821, the Hudson’s Bay Company had become one of the most powerful trading companies in North America. Fur-trading was one of its major concerns. Most of the furs traded at Hudson’s Bay Company posts were trapped by Native Americans, who bartered them for goods at Company stores. Tokens such as this were used to facilitate this process. Trappers would receive the appropriate number of tokens, equivalent to the value of beaver pelts they had brought in, and could then exchange them for goods in the store.