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1/2 'Penny' Griqua Town
| Issuer | London Missionary Society (Griquatown) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1815-1816 |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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| Obverse description | A dove displayed in three-quarter profile occupies the central field, rendered with finely detailed feathering across the wings, breast, and tail. The bird stands facing right with both wings fully outstretched and holds an olive branch in its beak, the sprig depicted with individual leaves and berries in crisp relief. The design is set against a plain, unlettered field with no peripheral legend, allowing the symbolic motif to dominate the entire face. The composition is engraved in a naturalistic style consistent with early nineteenth-century English craftsmanship, attributed to Thomas Halliday. The coin's reeded border frames the device with a bold, uniform milling. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Struck in Birmingham by Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint — the same facility that produced British regal coinage of the period — these pieces were commissioned by the London Missionary Society for use among the Griqua people at Griquatown in what is now the Northern Cape. The Society needed a medium of exchange for a settlement that had no access to conventional colonial currency, making this one of the very few instances of a missionary organization functioning as a monetary authority.
The issue was short-lived. By the early 1820s, Cape Colony coinage had penetrated the region sufficiently to displace it.