Dominica No Date (1813) 4 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 itself pierced and stamped with a crowned 4, for 4 bits.
This example was lot 897 in Heritage sale 3014 (Chicago, April 2011), where it sold for $2,242. the catalog description[2] reads:
"British Colonial 11 Bits ND (1798), VF35 NGC, crenated center hole removed from a 1791 Mexico 8 Reales. An attractive example with aged patina. Provenance: Ex: Parsons #1034, Whitmore #278 and Glendinings October 1964 #1252, with the original tag."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.903 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM 3.3, Pr-21.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Byrne, Ray, Coins and Tokens of the Caribees, Decatur, IL: Jess Peters, Inc., 1975.
- [2]Tucker, Warren, and Scott Cordry, Heritage Signature Auction 3014: World Coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2011
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