| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Denomination | 9 pence |
| Alloy | Tin |
| Diameter | 32 mm |
| Thickness | mm |
| Weight | 1.49 gms |
| Shape | round |
| Edge | Plain |
| DieAxis | O° |
| Issue | |
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| Lowsley #16 Pridmore #63 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Obv. - | L (an Integer) 9 | |
| Rev. - | Blank | (except for Mirror image of Stamp) |
The token was in use about the year 1855, and discontinued in the year 1872.
Each of these tokens represented 9d., and was given for the
picking of a hundred-weight of coffee.
The number stamped on the reverse was a check against fraud.
There was often, but not always, a rough hole for suspension.
G. & W. LEECHMAN, This firm originated in a Company called
``The Hultsdorf Mills Co. (Ceylon) Ltd.'' founded in London to develop
the Mill called ``Belmont Oil Mill'' (in Belmont Street) founded in
1835 on a tract of land on the banks of the Canal at Hultsdorf. The
name of Hultsdorf itself commemorates the name of General Hulft
(Governor of Ceylon during the Dutch regime).
On the death in 1840 of the founder of the Mill, the new management
christened it as ``Hultsdorf Mills, Colombo '', the name perpetuated
by the vulcanite tokens. Crushing machinery for coconut oil was
installed. A saw mill was erect and in 1855 soap making was added to
the mill's activities. In 1865 when the Hultsdorf Mills Co. went into
liquidation the property was acquired by G. B. Leechman who with his
brother William Carey Leechman as partner, founded the firm of G. &
W. Leechman. It is the initial letters of the name of this firm which
appear on the tokens.
In 1886 a new competitor in the person of Philipp Freudeoberg entered
the field (see Token No. 36). He took out a lease of the Hultsdorf
Mills and later, in 1896, purchased the premises. In the meantime,
Leechman had erected a modern mill at Grandpass.
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
The token was scanned at 600 dpi and the images are displayed at 200 dpi.
I thank Bob Lyall of UK, for the scans of this token from his collection.