Catalog
1 Ackey - George III
| Issuer | Company of Merchants Trading to Africa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1796 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Ackey |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field dominated by the large cursive royal cypher 'GR' (Georgius Rex) in flowing script, surmounted by a heraldic crown with cross finial. The cypher is encircled by a laurel and olive wreath tied with a ribbon bow at the base. The date 1796 is divided by the crown at the top of the field, with '17' to the left and '96' to the right. The entire design is rendered in a refined neoclassical style with a milled border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 1796 GR (Translation: George King) |
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| Additional information |
The ackey was a trade denomination created specifically for the Gold Coast, calibrated to match the value of the gold dust units used in local commerce — not a coin in the conventional sense, but a manufactured medium of exchange designed to penetrate a barter economy on its own terms. The Company of Merchants Trading to Africa, itself an unusual quasi-governmental body that administered British interests on the Gold Coast from 1750 until its dissolution in 1821, issued these pieces to facilitate the slave trade and the purchase of gold and ivory at coastal forts like Cape Coast Castle.
Only a handful of denominations were struck under this authority, making the series one of the more obscure British colonial coinages.