Panawatte Estate Shop
50 Cents

A brass token issued for use in the Panawatte Estate Shop, Yatiyantota, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka.
In 1900 Panawatte Estate was 1050 acars in extent and fully planted with tea and rubber. It is the property of Panawatte Tea and Rubber Estates Ltd of which Messrs Whithall & Co are the Colombo Agents. A thousand workers were employed upon it and the annual tea crop is about 350,000 lbs.

SPECIFICATIONS
Denomination 50 Cents
AlloyBrass
Diameter29 mm
Thickness mm
Weight?.?? gms
Shaperound
EdgeMilled
DieAxisO°
Issue
 panawatte_estate_50c_obverse panawatte_estate_50c_reverse
Pridmore Unlisted.
Obverse : PANAWATTE ESTATE
SHOP		 within a plain circle.
Reverse : 50 CTS within a plain circle.

Since 50 cents was equivant to a Shilling (i.e. 20 Pence) or more than two times the old Full Task value, it is probably more Modern than the coffee Tokens. Probably from the Early 20th Century.

Listed in Dick Ford Collection (1995 Feb 23 Taisei-Baldwin-Gillio Auction#19 lot #295 part) where it is described as 25 mm and illustrated at 28 mm. In the Noble Auction 83 lot 2156 where it is listed as 29 mm, and remained unsold with an estimate of AU$250.

Reference
A. F. B. Smeaton, Suprintendent Panawatte Estate. 20th Century Impressions, Page 878.

Image of token from Noble Auction 83 lot 2156, is displayed at 250 dpi.