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1 Penny Douglas Bank
| Issuer | Douglas Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1811 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | KM#Tn6, Pr#51, Withers#2060 |
| Obverse description | Within a beaded inner circle, a detailed view of Peel Castle on St. Patrick's Isle, Isle of Man, depicted from the sea with its medieval towers, battlements, and ruined cathedral walls extending across the central field. In the foreground, a single-masted sailing vessel navigates choppy waves rendered with fine engraving. The circumferential legend reads PEEL CASTLE above and ISLE OF MAN below, separated by the inner border, all executed in raised capital letters within the milled outer rim. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A plain, unadorned field bearing the issuer's inscription arranged in four horizontal lines of raised capital letters at centre: DOUGLAS / BANK TOKEN / ONE PENNY / 1811. The design is deliberately stark, relying entirely on the bold typographic legend to convey the token's denomination, issuing authority, and date. The field is smooth and undecorated, framed by a beaded inner border and a milled outer rim consistent with the obverse. |
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| Additional information |
Douglas Bank was a private banking institution operating out of the Isle of Man, and its 1811 penny token belongs to the wave of necessity coinage that flooded Britain during the acute copper shortage of the Napoleonic period. The Royal Mint's chronic failure to supply adequate small change had left merchants and banks issuing their own tokens by the millions — a situation Parliament finally ended with the Suppression of Tokens Act of 1817, which rendered pieces like this one instantly illegal for circulation.
The Withers reference places this among a well-documented Manx token sequence, though die alignment and edge varieties within the type continue to be debated by specialists in British provincial coinage.