Guadeloupe (1811) 9 livres
The island of Guadeloupe was colonized by the French in 1635, but did not see sizable settlements until much later. For a time it was a dependency of Martinique. The French had been cutting and stamping coins for local use when the British took control in 1810-1816. The latter mandated several different types of coins, authorized in 1811, to be made from circulating English, French, and Spanish silver[1].
The coin type shown is a 9 livres, made by punching a square hole with serrated edges in a crown-sized host, and applying small counterstamps to both sides. In this case, the host was an 8 reales from Mexico City dated 1805. This example was lot 1026 at the N.Y.I.N.C Auction – Sale 71 by Stacks' Bowers Auctions and sold on Jan 7, 2011 for $1770. the catalog description[2] reads: "GUADELOUPE. British Administration. 9 Livres (8 Reales), ND (1811). Proclamation of 9 May 1911. Square central hole of 16 crenellations, two crowned "G" countermarks on a 1805 Mexican 8 Reales. Pleasing. VERY FINE." NOTE: Description incorrectly dates the Proclamation as 1911, not 1811. The second specimen was lot 44390 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2024), where it sold for $3,120. The catalog description[3] noted,
"GUADELOUPE. Guadeloupe - MEXICO. 9 Livres (9 Shillings), ND (1811). George III. PCGS EF-45. Issued by proclamation of 9 May 1811. Countermark: Raised crowned "G" within shaped indent applied to obverse at 5 o'clock and reverse at 1 o'clock, the central plug removed from the reverse by four individual cuts with crenellated edges. Applied to a 1810-Mo TH Mexico bust 8 Reales of Charles IIII (IV) (KM-109). A beautifully toned and vivid example, delivering nice tone, with handsome retained details on the undertype and no signs of major faults. In accordance with other British islands, the removed central segment and dollar were to circulate as separate coins. When authorized the amount to be cut and stamped was 10,000 Spanish dollars with the removed segments being 1/9 of the total weight. The central cren[el]ated cutout segments were given a declared value of 20 Sous (1 Shilling) and were stamped with a radiant "G". When the colony returned to French rule in 1816, steps were taken to remove the cut monies of the previous administration. It wasn't until May of the following year that the cut segments were demonetized. However, some of the dollars continued to circulate until 1858 before they were finally withdrawn."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, the second specimen 23.92 g.
Catalog reference: the first specimen KM-25; Prid-25; EL-G1; the second specimen KM-26; Prid-2; EL-G1; Gad-30; VG-1041.
- 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.
- Gadoury, Victor, and George Cousinié, Monnaies Coloniales Françaises, 1670-1988, 2me Éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 1988.
- [2]Ponterio, Richard, and Kent Ponterio, Ponterio sale 158: The 2011 N.Y.I.N.C. Auction, Irvine: Bowers and Merena, 2010.
- [3]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2024 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Emilio M. Ortiz Collection, The Richard Margolis Collection and The Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
Link to:
- (1811) 20 Sous
- (1811) 40 Sous
- Coins and currency dated 1811
- return to coins of Guadeloupe