Catalog
1 Penny
| Issuer | Barbados |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788 |
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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 | Bare bust of a young male figure facing left, crowned with a prince's coronet surmounted by three ostrich feathers, the hair rendered in a beaded or curled style. The effigy is depicted in plain truncation with no drapery visible. The legend I · SERVE appears in the lower field below the bust, referencing the Welsh motto of the Prince of Wales. The inner border is formed by a ring of beads, consistent with the coin's milled production. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A large, centrally placed pineapple in high relief occupies the field, its characteristic diamond-patterned body and leafy crown rendered in fine detail, symbolising the tropical identity of Barbados. The circular legend BARBADOES PENNY runs around the periphery, interrupted by small pellet stops at the top and sides. The date 1788 is inscribed in the exergue below the pineapple, flanked by pellet stops. The inner border consists of a continuous ring of beads matching the obverse. |
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| Additional information |
These copper pennies were not issued by any colonial authority — they were privately struck tokens commissioned by local merchants to address a chronic shortage of small change in Barbados. The British government had largely neglected to supply the Caribbean colonies with adequate subsidiary coinage, leaving trade at the retail level dependent on whatever private or foreign pieces happened to circulate. The Lyall reference places this among a well-documented series of Caribbean merchant tokens, though the specific commissioning party behind this issue remains disputed in the literature.