Dominica No Date (1798) 1 1/2 bits
The island of Dominica was first colonized by the French in 1632, and went back and forth many times between the French and British until being fully controlled by the British in 1805. The first coinage was pierced, cut, or otherwise mutilated foreign silver coins, and standardization of this practice took place in 1798. Dominica began using pound sterling in 1862, thus demonetizing all previous cut, pierced, or countermarked foreign coins. According to Byrne[1], the coin type shown here was prepared from the plugs pierced out of the larger denominations. They were heavily counterfeited, often with the incorrect number of crenulations along the periphery.
This example was lot 895 at the N.Y.I.N.C Auction – Sale 71 by Stack's Bowers Auctions and sold on Jan 7, 2011 for $330. The catalog description[2] reads:
"DOMINCA. Moco (1 1/2 Bits), ND (1798). Cut central portion of an 8 Reales, 15 crenellations around radiate "D" countermark. A few minor scratches on reverse. Old India ink o[n] reverse. Toned. VERY FINE."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.903 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-1; Prid-22.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Byrne, Ray, Coins and Tokens of the Caribees, Decatur, IL: Jess Peters, Inc., 1975.
- [2]Ponterio, Richard, and Kent Ponterio, Ponterio sale 158: The 2011 N.Y.I.N.C. Auction, Irvine: Bowers and Merena, 2010
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