| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Denomination | 4.5 pence |
| Alloy | Brass |
| Diameter | 27.5 mm |
| Thickness | mm |
| Weight | 7.09 gms |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| DieAxis | O° |
| Issue | |
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| Lowsley #7 Pridmore #61 Mitchiner #2241 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Obverse : | centered | COLPETTY MILLS | within dotted circle inside raised rim. |
| Reverse : | centered tea-bush | LEE, HEDGES, & Co. * 1867 * | within dotted circle inside raised rim. |
LEE, HEDGES & Co. The inception of this firm dates back to
1857 when W. D. Lee started business in Colombo for Brice and Boustead
of London. In 1866 he admitted J. R. Hedges as partner and from that
year the firm became known as Lee, Hedges & Co.
The firm had a branch in Kandy and soon built up an attractive
estate agency business, they also had a large coffee curing business,
On the death of Lee in 1871, G.A.M. Hedges, brother of JR. Hedges,
came into the firm but in 1877, the partnership was dissolved and
JR. Hedges left Ceylon in 1880.
The firm had two Mills in Colombo. The earlier one at Kollupitiya
called Colpetty, a coffee and oil mill, employing about 600 hands, the
other, the Dematagode Coffee Mills employing about 400 hands. In 1880
the Dematagode Mills were given up, but the Colpetty Mills continued
and in 1894 it was known as Konupitiya Coffee Curing Mills, Cinnamon
Press, Tea Factory and Dessicated Coconut Manufactory. In 1927, Hedges
Buildings arose on the site of the old mills to house the firm's
office staffs.
My parental home in the Colombo suburb of Kollupitiya is less than half mile from this site, which was then known as Shaw Wallace & Hedges. It is now a vacant block being developed for condominiums.
Reference
* Coins and Tokens
of Ceylon, Lieut. Col B. Lowsley, Num. Chron. Sr III Vol. XV, 1895.
* The Coins of British Commonwealth of Nations to the end of the
reign of George VI 1952
Part 2 - Asian Territories by F. Pridmore Spink & Son Ltd., 1965.
Tokens
* Oriental Coins CE 600 - 1979 by Michael Mitchiner (#2241)
The coin was scanned at 300dpi and the images are displayed at
200dpi.
The very fine condition coin was purchased in August 1998 from
a dealer in Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
The Token image above has been copied into the Shaw Group History without any acknowledgement to the source.