10 Cents

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands plastic token coinage of 1977 was authorized under the administration of John Clunies-Ross, the fifth in the dynasty that had controlled the atoll since the 1820s under a feudal arrangement the Australian government was actively working to dismantle. These pieces were issued for use within the islands' closed economy, where the Clunies-Ross family controlled all commerce and paid workers in tokens redeemable only at the family store. Australia formally purchased the islands from John Clunies-Ross in 1978 for approximately six million dollars, rendering this issue almost immediately obsolete.