1⁄24 Rixdollar Piedfort

Ceylon came under British administration following the 1796 seizure from the Dutch VOC, but the monetary situation inherited was a patchwork of Dutch stivers, local fanams, and VOC coppers — none of it coherent. The decision to issue a rixdollar-based coinage was a practical colonial fix, anchoring the new currency to the familiar Dutch unit still in daily use by the population.

The piedfort — struck at roughly double the standard planchet thickness — was not intended for circulation. Piedforts of this issue were produced as presentation or record strikes, almost certainly for colonial administrators or the Royal Mint's own archive.