Dominica No Date (1813) 3 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 the result of a 22mm plug left from the fabrication of a 12 bit coin, that was cut in half with a serrated edge, and countermarked with a crowned 3 for 3 bits.
This example was lot 896 in Ponterio sale 158 (New York, January 2011) and sold for $1003. the catalog description reads:
"DOMINICA. 3 Bits (3 Shilling 3 Pence), ND (1813). Authorization of 7 August 1813. Crowned "3" countermark on a cut half circular segment from the center of a Spanish Colonial 8 Reales. Host coin slick, countermark VERY FINE."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.903 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-4; Prid-29.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Byrne, Ray, Coins, Tokens, & Medals from the West Indies, Jess Peters, Inc, Sale #78, June 13-15, 1975.
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