1/4 Dollar - Penang

The Penang coinage of 1788 was among the first currency officially struck for a British settlement in Southeast Asia — Prince of Wales Island (modern Penang) having been ceded by the Sultan of Kedah to Francis Light just the year before. The East India Company authorized a local coinage almost immediately, an unusual move that reflected the settlement's intended role as a free port rather than a purely extractive trading post.

KM#6.2 is distinguished from the related 6.1 variety by its die characteristics. Light himself was reportedly the driving administrative force behind getting coin into circulation quickly, as barter and a chaotic mix of foreign specie had dominated the port from its founding.