Watch List notes:

SCOTLAND, Countermarked coinage. Clackmannanshire, Alloa. Alloa Colliery. Æ 5 Shillings Token (40mm, 25.82 g). Birmingham mint(?). Struck circa 1800-1810. + PAYABLE AT ALLOA COLLIERY around 5/ within circle, all countermarked on a contemporary counterfeit Spanish 8 Reales dated 1795 Mo FM. Manville p. 14, 5q (this coin cited). Countermark Near EF. Host coin Near VF, brown patina, faint cleaning scratches.


Ex Ponterio 37 (18 August 1989), lot 1414.

This enigmatic countermark issue appears almost exclusively on base-metal counterfeits of Spanish dollars, apparently struck at the Birmingham mint for the express use of Alloa Colliery. It appears that these functioned as a sort of company scrip or tradesman's token.