In 1814, British colonial authorities in Grenada authorized the countermarking of Spanish colonial eight-reales pieces to address a chronic shortage of official currency throughout the Windward Islands. The crowned "G" punch was applied locally, converting circulating Spanish silver into denominations that could function within the British accounting system — 4 shillings 6 pence, or six bits in the local reckoning that persisted from the pre-British monetary culture.
The host coins vary considerably in origin and date, drawn from whatever Mexican, Peruvian, or Bolivian milled coinage happened to be in local circulation. KM#9 is catalogued as a type rather than a discrete issue.
In 1814, British colonial authorities in Grenada authorized the countermarking of Spanish colonial eight-reales pieces to address a chronic shortage of official currency throughout the Windward Islands. The crowned "G" punch was applied locally, converting circulating Spanish silver into denominations that could function within the British accounting system — 4 shillings 6 pence, or six bits in the local reckoning that persisted from the pre-British monetary culture.
The host coins vary considerably in origin and date, drawn from whatever Mexican, Peruvian, or Bolivian milled coinage happened to be in local circulation. KM#9 is catalogued as a type rather than a discrete issue.