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1 Penny Sierra Leone Company
| Issuer | Sierra Leone Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1791 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Milled |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Two clasped hands in the centre of the field symbolise trade and goodwill, with the numeral 1 appearing both above and below the motif to denote the denomination. The circular legend ONE PENNY PIECE runs along the periphery, and the date 1791 is inscribed in the lower field beneath the lower numeral. The beaded border frames the entire composition, consistent with the milled token coinage of the period. |
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| Additional information |
The Sierra Leone Company was a British abolitionist venture chartered in 1791 to establish a self-sustaining free Black settlement at Freetown, populated largely by Black Loyalists relocated from Nova Scotia. These pennies were struck for use within that colony — a private mercantile coinage, not a crown issue — making the Sierra Leone Company one of the very few abolitionist organizations in history to produce its own circulating currency.
Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint in Birmingham produced the pieces, the same facility that would later strike the influential 1797 British cartwheel coinage.