The Ionian Islands functioned as a British protectorate from 1815 until their cession to Greece in 1864, and the monetary system throughout that period was administered under British oversight. This 1862 piece was struck just two years before that transfer — close enough to the handover that its production likely had more to do with administrative continuity than any expectation of long circulation.
Trial strikes of this denomination are exceptionally rare survivors of a minting process that never reached full production.
The Ionian Islands functioned as a British protectorate from 1815 until their cession to Greece in 1864, and the monetary system throughout that period was administered under British oversight. This 1862 piece was struck just two years before that transfer — close enough to the handover that its production likely had more to do with administrative continuity than any expectation of long circulation.
Trial strikes of this denomination are exceptionally rare survivors of a minting process that never reached full production.