Lot 1071
Jamaica. Dollar (6 Shillings 8 Pence), ND (1758). Prid-4 type; KM-8.4. George II. Countermark GR monogram on Peru (Lima) Pillar 8 Reales, Ferdinand VI (1746-59). 1757-JM. Boldly struck and attractively toned. Rare. NGC graded MS-61.
In the early 18th century Jamaica was the focal point of England's West Indies operations. Besides the island being their naval and military headquarters for the region, it was also their center for processing bullion. Considerable wealth, and Spanish dollars, poured into the island from commerce and private sources (buccaneers!). In 1758, the Jamaica assembly determined that a portion of the Spanish coin should be made legal tender and initiated countermarking dollars at the set rate each of six shillings, eight pence.
Jamaica was discovered on May 3, 1494 by Columbus, and settled by Spain in 1509. It was later captured, almost by default, by British naval forces in 1655 under Admiral William Penn and General Venables, who were sent by Oliver Cromwell to conquer Hispaniola. In 1670, England's possession of the island was formalized by the Treaty of Madrid. For more than 150 years, Jamaica's economy of sugar, slaves, and rum (and piracy) was one of the most prosperous in the New World. As would be seen later in the southern United States of the early 19th century, one of the major bulwarks in supporting the island's prosperity was plantation slavery. Slavery in turn was one leg of the "Triangular Trade," which emerged among the Colonial powers and the New World. In Jamaica's very typical case, the triangle involved: England (manufactured goods), Africa (slaves), and the Caribbean (sugar). Commercial triangles such as these were the beginnings of what would later emerge as the international economy. As for Jamaica, international trade was so important to its economy that when the American War of Independence disrupted trade between the Caribbean and what was then the "North American colonies," 15,000 slaves were said to have died of starvation in Jamaica alone.
Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,000.
Illustrated in Money of the World, coin 154.
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| Realized $6,325 |
