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11/2 Pence Black Dog, H countermark on French Metropolitan 2 Sols
| Issuer | Tortola |
|---|---|
| Year | 1801 |
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| Value | 11/2 Pence (1⁄216) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Incuse 'H' counterstamp, approximately 5 mm in height, applied in the center of the host coin's obverse field. The underlying host coin is a French Metropolitan 2 Sols piece, displaying a crowned fleur-de-lis within a diamond-shaped cartouche at center, surrounded by a circular legend reading LUD. XV. D. G. ET... in Latin script. The counterstamp is boldly struck and deeply recessed, consistent with official countermarking practice. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | H |
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| Additional information |
The "Black Dog" coins of the Eastern Caribbean were French 2 sols pieces — already debased billon — countermarked by colonial authorities to authorize local circulation at a fixed valuation. Tortola's application of the "H" countermark in 1801 was a pragmatic response to chronic small-change shortages that plagued British Caribbean possessions throughout the Napoleonic period, when normal trade flows were disrupted and official coinage from London arrived irregularly at best.
The host coins themselves were French Metropolitan issues, not colonial sols marqués, which distinguishes this type from several neighboring island countermarks that used different base material.