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1/4 Piastre - Zichron Jacob
| Issuer | Zichron Jacob Colony |
|---|---|
| Year | 1885 |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ZICHRON JACOB 1/4 |
| Reverse description | Plain brass field bearing two lines of bold Hebrew script centred within the field, reading זִכְרוֹן יַעֲקֹב (Zikhron Ya'akov, meaning 'Memorial of Jacob'). The characters are rendered in a large, clear typeface filling the central area of the coin. Below the inscription, a decorative horizontal rule with a central pellet ornament divides the legend from a small fleur-de-lis device at the base. A raised rim encircles the entire design. |
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| Additional information |
Zichron Jacob, founded in 1882 by Romanian Jewish immigrants under Baron Edmond de Rothschild's patronage, issued these brass tokens when reliable Ottoman coinage was scarce in the settlements of Ottoman Palestine. They functioned as internal scrip within the colony's economy — redeemable at the colony store, which Rothschild's administration controlled tightly as part of its paternalistic oversight of settler life. The arrangement was not without resentment; colonists chafed under the system for years before Rothschild eventually transferred administration to the Jewish Colonization Association in 1900.
Surviving examples are genuinely rare. The tokens saw hard daily use and the issuing population was tiny.