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11/2 Pence Black Dog, H countermark on French Metropolitan 2 Sols

Issuer Tortola
Year 1801
Type Standard circulation coin
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Obverse script Latin
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Reverse lettering DOM BENEDICTUM SIT NOMEN
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Additional information

The "Black Dog" coins of the Eastern Caribbean were French 2 sols pieces — already debased billon — countermarked by colonial authorities to authorize local circulation at a fixed valuation. Tortola's application of the "H" countermark in 1801 was a pragmatic response to chronic small-change shortages that plagued British Caribbean possessions throughout the Napoleonic period, when normal trade flows were disrupted and official coinage from London arrived irregularly at best.

The host coins themselves were French Metropolitan issues, not colonial sols marqués, which distinguishes this type from several neighboring island countermarks that used different base material.

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