St. Lucia (1811) escalin
St. Lucia was first seen by Europeans during a voyage of Columbus. It was first colonized in 1605 by the British, but conflicts with the indigenous population kept European incursion at a minimum. Later the French arrived, and the island was fought over many times between the two. As a result, it is unclear to researchers whether the colonial coinage was issued by the British or French. The denominations are of French derivation. Full British control was exerted in 1814, which was after the authorization date of the coinage shown here. This specimen was lot 25041 in Heritage sale 3030 (New York, January 2014), where it sold for $2,350. The catalog description[2] noted, "French Colonial Escalin (1811), VF25 NGC Bostonian Collection, a nicely toned third cut of a Spanish 2 Reales with a small circle counterstamp. Very rare type and an attractive example. Sold with an old collector's tag citing weight and provenance."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.903 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM 6, Pridmore-7.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Byrne, Ray, Coins and Tokens of the Caribees, Decatur, IL: Jess Peters, Inc., 1975.
- [2]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Warren Tucker and David Michaels, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3030, featuring the RLM Collection, the Isaac Rudman Collection, the Hans Cook Collection and the Collection of Donald E. Bently, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2013.
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