1 Puffin - Martin Coles Harman Pattern Strike

Martin Coles Harman purchased Lundy Island in 1925 and almost immediately set about establishing it as a quasi-independent territory, complete with its own currency. The puffin and half-puffin denominations were struck in 1929 and offered for sale to visitors, directly undercutting the legal status of British coinage on the island. Harman was prosecuted under the Coinage Act 1870 and convicted in 1931, fined £5 plus costs — a modest sum that did nothing to dent his enthusiasm for the project.

Pattern strikes differ from the issued pieces in subtle die characteristics that specialists have documented, though attribution without reference examples is unreliable.