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3 Bits Cut of Spanish Colonial 8 Reales
| Issuer | Dominica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1813 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 3 |
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| Edge | Plain (cut) / Milled (original arc) |
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| Additional information |
Dominica's chronic shortage of small change in the early nineteenth century was solved the same way much of the Caribbean solved it: by cutting Spanish colonial pieces into fractions and counterstamping them for local circulation. The island was under British administration following its cession in 1805, but Spanish silver remained the dominant circulating medium throughout the region regardless of political control.
The three-bits denomination — three-eighths of a dollar — reflects the old bit system inherited directly from Spanish colonial reckoning, where one real equaled one bit. KM#4 is one of the scarcer Dominican cut issues; the counterstamp authorizing circulation was applied under Governor Hugh Lyle Carmichael.