Catalog
1 Penny - Victoria
| Issuer | Jamaica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869-1900 |
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| Currency | Pound (1822-1969) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The heraldic shield of the Jamaican coat of arms occupies the centre of the design, its quartered field bearing five pineapples arranged across the divisions, with a plain cross dividing the quarters; the shield is surmounted by a crocodile passant atop a royal helm and mantling. Two indigenous figures serve as supporters flanking the escutcheon, each holding a spear, and a scroll below bears the motto INDUS UTERQUE SERVIET UNI. The legend JAMAICA arcs across the upper field and ONE PENNY along the lower field, all contained within a beaded inner circle and an outer toothed border, with small ornamental rosettes as stops at the sides. |
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| Reverse lettering | JAMAICA * ONE PENNY * INDUS UTERQUE SERVIET UNI (Translation: Both Indies serving one.) |
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| Additional information |
Jamaica's penny coinage was administered through the British Colonial Office rather than the Royal Mint's standard imperial channels, which produced occasional delays and supply shortfalls that left the island chronically short of small change throughout the 1870s. The series ran across Victoria's final three reign portraits without redesign of the local type — an unusual degree of continuity for a colonial issue spanning over three decades.
KM#17 is known with multiple date varieties across its run, and the 1869 issue represented the first copper-nickel penny struck for any British Caribbean territory.