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25 Cents
| Issuer | Clunies Ross Family (Keeling Cocos Islands) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1913 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Plastic (plastic ivory) |
| 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 |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | KEELING COCOS ISLANDS •1910• |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| 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 from the early nineteenth century until Australian annexation in 1978, and their token coinage was a deliberate instrument of economic control. Workers on the copra plantation were paid in these plastic tokens rather than sterling, binding them to the company store and preventing any outflow of real currency from the islands. The system was feudal in every practical sense.
Plastic ivory was chosen specifically because it could not be mistaken for any government-issued currency and was essentially worthless outside the atoll.