Catalog
1 Penny - George III
| Issuer | Soho Mint (for the Bahamas) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1806-1807 |
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| Composition | Copper |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A large three-masted sailing vessel under full sail occupies the central field, depicted navigating calm coastal waters with land or distant sails visible on the horizon to the right, evoking the mercantile trade of the Bahamas. The word BAHAMA arcs prominently along the upper legend in widely spaced letters. Beneath a thin horizontal line separating the ship from the lower field, the three-line Latin inscription EXPULSIS PIRATIS / RESTITUTA / COMMERCIA appears in bold Roman capitals, referencing the expulsion of pirates and restoration of commerce. A continuous beaded border frames the entire design. |
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| Additional information |
These pennies were struck at Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint in Birmingham — the same facility that had revolutionized British coinage with its steam-powered presses in the 1790s. The Bahamas issue was a private contract, the colonial government having no mint of its own and London's Royal Mint showing little urgency in supplying the islands with adequate small change.
Copper colonials from Soho contracts generally survive in better condition than their metropolitan counterparts; lower circulation volumes in small island economies account for much of that. The KM#1 designation reflects that this was the colony's first formally struck regal coinage — prior to it, Spanish and cut coinage had filled the gap.