1 1/2 Escalins

Saint Lucia changed hands fourteen times between Britain and France before finally being ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Paris in 1814. This 1811 issue appeared during that final British occupation, when the island's monetary supply was a chaotic mix of Spanish, French, and locally countermarked coinage. The escalin denomination itself was a French colonial unit, retained under British administration simply because the population knew it and nothing else was available.

KM#7 is a cut and countermarked piece — sections of Spanish colonial silver, officially sanctioned rather than struck from fresh dies.