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Johannis Countermark C1 and C2, without mint mark
| Issuer | Curaçao |
|---|---|
| Year | 1793-1799 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Johannis |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Host coin is a Portuguese 1/2 Dobra (Meia Dobra) dated 1781, bearing conjoined draped effigies of Queen Maria I and King Pedro III facing right, encircled by a Latin legend with the date of the host coin below. Five Curaçao countermarks applied during the period 1793–1799: four small letter punches (GI, L, MH, and B) positioned very close to the rim at approximately 3, 6, 9, and 12 o'clock respectively, and one additional countermark (GH) applied to the central field. The countermarks are incuse punch-applied impressions characteristic of colonial monetary countermarking practice. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
In the final decade of the eighteenth century, the Dutch colony of Curaçao faced a chronic shortage of circulating coinage — a problem endemic to Caribbean colonial economies dependent on whatever specie arrived by ship. The colonial administration's solution was to countermark existing Spanish colonial gold escudos, authorizing them for local circulation at a fixed valuation. The Johannis countermarks, applied in two successive punches, transformed foreign coin into something the colonial government could formally account for.
The absence of a mint mark on this type reflects application outside any formal minting facility — these were stamped by colonial authority, not produced by one.