2 Shillings Type I countermark

In 1801, the British Virgin Islands faced a chronic shortage of small change that plagued nearly every Caribbean colony of the period. The solution on Tortola was to countermark Spanish colonial 2-real pieces already circulating on the island, officially validating them for local use at a fixed sterling value. The Type I punch is distinguishable from the later Type II by its specific stamp characteristics, though the total number of pieces so marked was small enough that survivors in any condition are genuinely scarce.