Catalog
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| Issuer | British West Indies |
|---|---|
| Year | 1823 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The 1823 British West Indies coinage patterns were produced in London at the direction of the Colonial Office, which was wrestling with a chronic shortage of small change across the Caribbean colonies — a problem made worse by the widespread counterfeiting of local currency and the refusal of Spanish colonial coins to circulate at predictable values. A 1/50 dollar denomination was proposed as part of a rationalized decimal system intended to replace the chaotic mix of cut and plugged coins then passing as currency.
The scheme was never adopted. Colonial merchants and planters resisted the change, and the patterns remained just that.