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4 Shillings 6 Pence J. McK and Son
| Issuer | J. McK and Son, Greenock |
|---|---|
| Year | 1811 |
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| Currency | Pound sterling (1707-1970) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse displays the host coin's portrait of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, shown as a laureate and draped bust facing right, with the surrounding legend partially legible reading FERDINANDVS VII DEI GRATIA and the date 1811 in the lower exergue. Applied prominently over the portrait is a circular countermark struck by J. McK and Son of Greenock, consisting of a stippled or granular field bearing the merchant's initials J. McK & Son above the denomination 4/6 and the place name GREENOCK below, all enclosed within a beaded border. The countermark was applied to authorize the Spanish colonial 8 Reales host coin for local circulation in Scotland at a valuation of 4 shillings and 6 pence. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Greenock's early nineteenth-century textile and sugar industries created chronic small-change shortages that the Bank of England showed no urgency in solving. Local merchants filled the gap themselves. J. McK and Son — almost certainly the firm of John McKean — issued this piece under the Scottish tradesman's token system, a pragmatic workaround that Parliament repeatedly threatened to outlaw before finally doing so with the Coinage Act of 1816, which effectively killed private silver token issues of this type.