11/2 Bits Moco

Obverse description	Countermark applied to a circular plug cut from a Spanish or Spanish Colonial 8 Reales coin, the plug retaining the crenated (serrated) edge of its excision. The countermark consists of a cursive script capital 'D' with radiating rays emanating outward from the letter and a small star placed within the loop of the 'D'. The design served as the official validation mark of the colonial administration of Dominica, authenticating the plug for local circulation as a 1½ Bits denomination.
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Obverse lettering	D
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Additional information	Dominica's "moco" coinages were emergency issues produced by cutting and counterstamping Spanish colonial reales — the island's monetary administration had no mint of its own and chronic small-change shortages forced improvised solutions throughout the British Caribbean. The 1½ bits denomination is specific to Dominica's own valuation schedule, applied to a fragment worth a different amount under Spanish reckoning. The island passed between French and British control repeatedly across the 18th century before Britain secured it by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. This piece was struck just as the plantation economy was expanding rapidly and coin shortages were most acute.