Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
2 Rupees
| Issuer | J.S. Clunies Ross (Cocos (Keeling) Islands) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1913 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Clunies Ross family ruled the Cocos (Keeling) Islands as a private fiefdom for over a century, and their token currency was a deliberate instrument of control. Workers — almost all Cocos Malay laborers — were paid in these plastic tokens rather than sterling, binding them to the company store and making flight from the islands economically impossible. The system persisted until the Australian government intervened in 1978.
Plastic ivory was chosen as a practical substitute after earlier mother-of-pearl tokens proved too fragile and too costly to produce at volume.