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1 Rupee
| Issuer | Clunies Ross Family (Cocos (Keeling) Islands) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1913 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Rupee |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central shield displaying the Clunies Ross family coat of arms, flanked by two palm trees and surmounted by a bird crest, all within a circular legend. The inscription 'KEELING COCOS ISLANDS' runs around the upper periphery, with the date '1910' appearing in the lower field, flanked by two raised dots. The design is impressed into the square ivorine token, giving a cameo-like relief effect characteristic of molded plastic issues. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | KEELING COCOS ISLANDS •1910• |
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| Additional information |
The Clunies Ross family operated the Cocos (Keeling) Islands as a private fiefdom for over a century, importing indentured Malay laborers to work their coconut plantations and paying them in a scrip currency redeemable only at the family's own store. This arrangement kept the workforce in a state of permanent economic dependency — there was nowhere else to spend it and no mechanism to convert it to sterling. The ivorine tokens, introduced in the early twentieth century, replaced an earlier bone series and were deliberately impractical outside the islands.
Australian authorities finally abolished the system in 1978, nearly seven decades after this token was struck.