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1 Penny
| Issuer | Barbados |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 13.38 g |
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| Obverse description | Left-facing truncated bust of an enslaved African figure, rendered in fine relief with tightly curled hair and a hoop earring visible at the ear. The figure is surmounted by a jewelled coronet from which rise three large ostrich feather plumes, an allusion to the Prince of Wales badge and the ironic motto below. The legend I·SERVE appears in the lower field, arched beneath the bust, serving as both a punning reference to the Prince of Wales device and a commentary on the institution of slavery underpinning Barbadian colonial society. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A large, centrally positioned pineapple — the emblematic fruit of Barbados — depicted in high relief with a detailed crosshatched skin and a prominent leafy crown radiating outward. The fruit rests on a small platform in the centre of the field. The circular legend BARBADOES · PENNY · reads around the upper periphery, separated by pellet stops, with the date 1788 inscribed in the lower exergual area, flanked by pellet stops, all within a finely toothed milled border. |
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| Additional information |
Barbados had no official royal mint branch and no Crown-sanctioned coinage of its own during the colonial period — this piece is a trade token, privately issued to fill a chronic small-change shortage that plagued Caribbean commerce throughout the eighteenth century. British copper barely reached the islands in sufficient quantity, and plantation economies running on daily wage transactions ground to a halt without small denominations. Local merchants and estate owners stepped in, commissioning tokens struck in England for local circulation.
The KM#Tn8 attribution places this among a documented series of Barbadian coppers from the 1780s. Survivors show heavy circulation wear — unsurprising given how desperately needed they were.