2 Bits Center hole in Spanish 2 Reales

When coinage shortages became acute across the British Caribbean in the early nineteenth century, colonial administrators resorted to countermarking and mutilating Spanish colonial silver rather than waiting on London for proper issues. Dominica's solution — punching the center from circulating Spanish 2 Reales and revaluing both the ring and the plug — was one of several such expedients adopted across different islands, each with its own authorized mark. The 1816 date reflects the year of official authorization for this particular host coin type, not a minting year for Dominica itself.