The Cocos (Keeling) Islands plastic coinage of 1968 was issued under the authority of John Clunies-Ross, the fifth and final member of his family to govern the islands as a private fiefdom. The Clunies-Ross family had controlled the atoll since the 1820s, paying workers on their copra plantations in a proprietary currency that could only be spent at family-owned stores — a closed economic loop that persisted well into the twentieth century.
The plastic tokens replaced an earlier ivory series, with color coding distinguishing denominations. Australia formally annexed full administrative control in 1978, and by 1980 had bought out the Clunies-Ross interests, rendering the entire plastic series obsolete.
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands plastic coinage of 1968 was issued under the authority of John Clunies-Ross, the fifth and final member of his family to govern the islands as a private fiefdom. The Clunies-Ross family had controlled the atoll since the 1820s, paying workers on their copra plantations in a proprietary currency that could only be spent at family-owned stores — a closed economic loop that persisted well into the twentieth century.
The plastic tokens replaced an earlier ivory series, with color coding distinguishing denominations. Australia formally annexed full administrative control in 1978, and by 1980 had bought out the Clunies-Ross interests, rendering the entire plastic series obsolete.