Catalogus
| Uitgever | Clunies-Ross Estate (Cocos (Keeling) Islands) |
|---|---|
| Jaar | 1879 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Waarde | Log in om details te zien |
| Valuta | Log in om details te zien |
| Samenstelling | Log in om details te zien |
| Afmetingen | Log in om details te zien |
| Vorm | Log in om details te zien |
| Drukker | Log in om details te zien |
| Ontwerper(s) | Log in om details te zien |
| Graveur(s) | Log in om details te zien |
| In omloop tot | Log in om details te zien |
| Referentie(s) | Log in om details te zien |
| Beschrijving voorzijde | Log in om details te zien |
|---|---|
| Opschrift voorzijde | COCOS. Exchange for the Sum of one quarter Rupee Copper. fc. 1/4. |
| Beschrijving keerzijde | Reverse is blank, with aged, cream-toned paper exhibiting surface wear and toning consistent with extended circulation. |
| Opschrift keerzijde | Log in om details te zien |
| Handtekening(en) | Log in om details te zien |
| Beveiligingstype | Log in om details te zien |
| Beschrijving beveiliging | Log in om details te zien |
| Varianten | Log in om details te zien |
| Opmerkingen |
The Clunies-Ross family ruled the Cocos (Keeling) Islands as a private fiefdom for well over a century, and their scrip currency was the instrument that kept it that way. Workers — almost entirely Cocos Malay laborers brought to tend the copra plantation — were paid in these tokens and notes, redeemable only at the family's own store. The system made leaving economically impossible: wages earned in Clunies-Ross currency had no value anywhere else on earth.
This 1879 quarter-rupee is among the earliest documented paper issues from the estate. Printed on the islands themselves, the production was entirely in-house — no commercial printer, no government authority. The Australian government finally abolished the currency in 1978, nearly a century after this note was issued.