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2 Bits
| Issuer | Martinique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1764 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 2 Bits (0.02) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Crowned quartered coat of arms displaying the royal arms of Spain under Philip V, incorporating the fleurs-de-lis of the Bourbon dynasty alongside the castles and lions of Castile and León. Mint mark and assayer initials appear in the field flanking the shield. The legend runs around the periphery within a beaded border, interrupted by the characteristic irregular central cutout that was punched to create the 'deux bits' token for circulation in Martinique. |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Martinique's 2 Bits of 1764 belongs to a family of cut and counterstamped coinage that proliferated across the French Caribbean when metropolitan coin supplies were chronically unreliable. Spanish colonial 8 Reales were routinely cut into segments — "bits" — and locally authorized to circulate at assigned values, a pragmatic solution that the colonial administration tolerated rather than designed. The British occupation of Martinique from 1762 to 1763 had only deepened the monetary disorder, and this issue emerged almost immediately after the island's return to France under the Treaty of Paris.