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1 Cent Sierra Leone Company/Madras Presidency Mule
| Issuer | Sierra Leone Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1797-1800 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | A boldly rendered lion in a crouching, prowling posture occupies the central field, depicted with a highly detailed mane and raised hindquarters, set upon a rocky ground line. The design is engraved in high relief in the style of Conrad Heinrich Küchler of the Soho Mint. The peripheral legend reads SIERRA LEONE COMPANY arching above, with AFRICA appearing in the lower exergual area. The overall composition conveys the heraldic character associated with the Sierra Leone Company's colonial coinage of the late eighteenth century. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The Sierra Leone Company, chartered in 1792 to administer the abolitionist settlement at Freetown, contracted Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint to produce coinage for the colony. Somehow — almost certainly through a die management error at Soho — a reverse die intended for the Madras Presidency's East India Company coinage was paired with the Sierra Leone obverse, producing this mule. Boulton was simultaneously striking coins for multiple colonial clients, and the Soho operation's sheer volume made such pairings an occasional, if embarrassing, outcome.
The piece is listed as a pattern-mule in most references, suggesting it never achieved intentional circulation. The Madras connection dates the error to the same window when Boulton held the EIC contract.