Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Cents Sierra Leone Company
| Issuer | Sierra Leone Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1791 |
| Type | Emergency coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The central device depicts two clasped hands in a handshake, symbolising the commercial and diplomatic compact between the Sierra Leone Company and the local population, rendered in fine relief with cuffed sleeves visible on each wrist. The numeral 50 appears above the clasped hands and again below them, flanking the central motif with the denomination expressed twice for clarity. The circular legend HALF DOLLAR PIECE runs around the periphery of the field. The date 1791 is inscribed in the lower exergue beneath the second numeral 50, completing the reverse design. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Smooth |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Sierra Leone Company was a British abolitionist venture chartered in 1792 to establish a free settlement for liberated slaves on the West African coast — making this issue one of the very few colonial coinages deliberately minted for a population of formerly enslaved people rather than for colonial administrators or trading companies. The company struck coins in denominations suited to local commerce, with production contracted to Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint in Birmingham, which had recently pioneered steam-powered coinage technology.
The 1791 date predates the company's formal royal charter by a year, reflecting the transition from its predecessor, the St. George's Bay Company.