The anchor coinage was a series of four denominations of

silver coin Silver coins are one of the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks; their silver drachmas were popular trade coins. The ancient Persians used silver coins between 612–330 B ...

s issued for use in some British colonies in 1820 and 1822. The name comes from the crowned

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

that appears on the obverse of the coins. The denominations were sixteenth, eighth, quarter and half dollars, indicated by the Roman numerals XVI, VIII, IV and II on each side of the anchor. The reverse design was the royal coat of arms. According to Krause & Mishler's ''Standard Catalog of World Coins,'' the coins were issued for use in

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

and other Indian Ocean colonies, then later circulated in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

References

Currencies of Africa Currencies of the British Empire Currencies of Mauritius Modern obsolete currencies {{Coin-stub

See also

References