66 Shillings Countermark on contemporary counterfeit Brazil Joao I gold 6400 Reis 1773-R

Martinique's chronic shortage of specie in the late eighteenth century forced colonial administrators into pragmatic measures: officially countermarking whatever gold happened to circulate, including pieces whose own legitimacy was dubious. This example is a contemporary counterfeit of the Brazilian 6400 Reis — not a genuine Joao I piece from the Rio mint — that nevertheless received the crown-stamped "66" countermark authorizing it to pass at 66 shillings in local currency. The colonial authority was, in effect, warranting a fake.

KM#3 acknowledges the type exists on counterfeits. The countermark itself is what the French administration controlled; the host coin's origins were apparently secondary to the weight of gold it contained.