Catalog
| Issuer | Grenada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1818 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.256 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse displays the residual design of the original Spanish or Spanish Colonial 2 Reales host coin, showing fragmentary elements of the standard colonial silver coinage type. Portions of the original legend, milling, and design motifs remain visible along the curved edge of the cut segment, though much of the original imagery is lost due to the one-third sectioning of the host coin. The surface exhibits the natural luster and wear expected of a circulated silver planchet of this period, with the cut edges showing the raw silver typical of hand-clipped necessity coinage. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Grenada's chronic shortage of small change in the early nineteenth century led colonial authorities to authorize the countermarking of Spanish colonial reales, punching them to create fractional currency that could circulate at a fixed local valuation. The "1 BIT" stamp cut the piece's spending value free from its bullion origin, tying it instead to the island's informal bit system — a unit with no fixed metropolitan equivalent.
KM#12 is typically found on clipped or undersized host coins, which explains the light average weight for a piece nominally derived from a full real.