Catalog
1 Dollar Sierra Leone Company, type '1'
| Issuer | Sierra Leone Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1791 |
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| Composition | Copper |
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| Reverse description | The central device depicts two clasped hands symbolizing fellowship or commerce, enclosed within a circular arrangement of the denomination legend. The inscription ONE DOLLAR PIECE appears around the central motif, with the numeral 1 repeated at the sides and the date 1791 positioned below in the exergue area. |
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| Reverse lettering | ONE DOLLAR PIECE 1 1 1791 |
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| Additional information |
The Sierra Leone Company was a British abolitionist venture chartered in 1792 to govern the Province of Freedom settlement at Freetown, and these copper dollars were struck specifically to facilitate commerce in that colony — one of the earliest purpose-struck coinages for a West African territory under private British administration. The Company itself was a direct outgrowth of the "Black Poor" resettlement movement and the philanthropic circle around Granville Sharp and William Wilberforce.
KM#7a distinguishes this copper striking from the silver dollar of the same design, both produced for the same colonial circulation purpose.