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20 Cents Sierra Leone Company
| Issuer | Sierra Leone Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1791 |
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| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
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| Obverse description | A boldly rendered lion couchant occupies the central field, depicted facing the viewer with a full mane in high relief, resting its forelegs on a rocky ledge with its tail curving prominently over its haunches. The design conveys a naturalistic yet stylized character typical of late 18th-century British commercial coinage. The legend SIERRA LEONE COMPANY arcs around the upper periphery in large Roman capitals, while the word AFRICA appears in the lower field beneath a horizontal ground line. The coin is bordered by a continuous beaded inner rim. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | 1791 - - 5,200 1791 - Proof - 84 |
| Additional information |
The Sierra Leone Company was a British abolitionist venture chartered in 1792 to govern the Province of Freedom settlement at Freetown, and this coinage — struck in anticipation of that charter — represents one of the earliest purpose-struck issues for a sub-Saharan African colonial settlement. The company's directors, who included Granville Sharp and William Wilberforce, envisioned a self-sustaining free Black community where a proper circulating coinage would signal civic legitimacy.
Produced at Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint in Birmingham before the steam-press era reached full capacity there, the dies were cut the year the company received its parliamentary backing.