Barbados Penny

This penny coin was struck in 1788 for use in Barbados and was the first coin to be used on the island.

It is thought to have been privately commissioned by Sir Philip Gibbs, a local plantation owner, and is therefore considered to be a token rather than legal tender.

The reverse side features an image of a pineapple.

As pictured, the obverse has the profile of a black African man or woman with a crown and three plumes with the text "I SERVE" below.

The African head probably represents a slave. Slaves worked the sugar plantations of the island, and these predominantly originated from Africa by this time.

The crown and plumes are harder to explain. The plumes are those usually associated with the Prince of Wales, and his motto is “I serve”.

This double-entendre therefore suggests the design is intended to be humorous or satirical.

Sugar was a crucial part of people’s diets in the eighteenth and nineteenth century Britain and was mostly grown by slaves in the Caribbean.

West Indian Rum, made from sugar, was also widely available in Britain.

Protective duties placed on West Indian sugar meant that these sugar plantations had a virtual monopoly over Britain’s domestic sugar market.

This remained the case until the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834.

Increasing awareness amongst the general public that sugar was produced by slaves led to a series of national boycotts.

Women in particular helped to raise public awareness by setting up societies such as the Manchester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society and by producing and distributing pamphlets encouraging people to buy sugar from other sources, such as South Asia, where sugar was not produced by African slaves.