Summary
1 Penny token, Issued by, Sir Philip Gibbs, Barbados, 1788.
Gibbs Plantation Token
Minted at Hancock, Birmingham
Obverse Description
Head of a slave facing left, wearing a coronet and three feather plume; below, 'I SERVE'.
Reverse Description
At centre, a pineapple; around, 'BARBADOES . PENNY . 1788 .'.
Edge Description
Plain.
Significance
Sir Philip Gibbs, owner of the Gibbs plantation, arranged for one and a half hundredweight of these pieces to be struck. The first dies were engraved by J. Milton of the Royal Mint and Hocking, p. 314, believes the pieces were struck at the the Royal Mint. It would seem that they were not an official product of the Royal Mint but a private parcel struck by one of the engravers. This example is from a second circulation issue with dies and manufacture thought to be by J.G. Hancock, Birmingham. The second issue has a characteristic weakness on the second 'A' of BARBADOES. Gibbs tokens are often catalogued as 'Token Coinage' as they achieved widespread circulation throughout Barbados.
More Information
-
Collection Names
-
Collecting Areas
Numismatics & Philately, Sustainable Futures, Working Life & Trades
-
Acquisition Information
Transfer from National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), George McArthur, 15 Mar 1976
-
Date Issued
1788 AD
-
Issued By
-
Mint
Hancock, Birmingham (Mint), Birmingham, England, Great Britain, 1788
-
Artist
-
Artist
-
Previous Collection
-
Denomination
-
Series
-
Material
Copper
-
Axis
12
-
Classification
-
Category
-
Discipline
-
Type of item
-
Dimensions
33 mm (Outside Diameter), 13.384 g (Weight)
-
Shape
Round
-
References
Pridmore 3.14 Remick C1 Hocking 4113 Pridmore, Fred, Coins of the British Commonwealth, Vol. 3 p. 82 - 4 Remick, Jerome, British Commonwealth Coins, p. 61 - 62 Hocking, William, Catalgue Royal Mint, Vol.1 p. 314 - 315
[Thesis] Lugton, Mary E. 1989. George McArthur of Maldon: his Life and his Book Collection.
[Catalogue] Morrison, Ian. 2003. The Baker of Maldon.
[Book] Remick, Jerome. 1971. British Commonwealth Coins.
[Book] Pridmore, Fred. 1965. The Coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations, Part 3, West Indies.
[Book] Hocking, William J. 1906. Catalogue of the Coins, Tokens, Medals, Dies and Seals in the Museum of the Royal Mint.
-
Keywords
Pineapples, Slavery, British Empire Coins, British Commonwealth and Empire Coins
