OXFORD NUMISMATIC SOCIETY
The British Commonwealth -
Many people start collecting the coins of their own
country and then either go back in time or travel the world (speaking
collectively). In the 1960s and 1970s it was easy to get some commonwealth coins
imply from the coins in your pocket. A South African penny, Australian sixpence
or New Zealand half crown. They were same size as British coins. You could put
together quite a collection. Nowadays things have changed. You occasionally
find Gibraltar pounds or Channel Islands money in your pocket. I once got an
Ascension Island 50 p.
I suppose most people would just pass these on in
their change as quickly as possible but the budding coin collector or even the
more experienced one will put them aside.
The theme for our meeting today was coins of the
Commonwealth. Members brought year sets from Canada, India, New Zealand and
Falklands. Single coins were well represented. There were some fascinating
early issues which were cut or countermarked Spanish dollars. I knew these were
used in the Caribbean but had no idea they were also used in Gibraltar and
Prince Edward Island.
Why did colonies have their own coins and not just use
British issues? The answer is it was illegal to export British currency for
many years. Local merchants sent goods to England and agents here would sell
them and send manufactured goods to the colonies. Capital stayed in Britain. It
was not until recently that colonies and commonwealth states had their own
currency. Sometimes it was based on sterling or a local currency such as rupee
or dollar.
