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(1792-1811) Tortola Countermark. Vlack 455. Rarity-5.

Currency:CAD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:140.00 CAD Estimated At:350.00 - 400.00 CAD
(1792-1811) Tortola Countermark.  Vlack 455.  Rarity-5.
SOLD
275.00CAD+ buyer's premium (55.00)
This item SOLD at 2019 May 02 @ 21:02UTC-4 : AST/EDT

Buyer’s Premiums will be added on all items as per the Terms & Conditions of the sale. Invoices will be emailed out after The Toronto Coin Expo.

(1792-1811) Tortola Countermark. Vlack 455. Rarity-5 (per Vlack, likely rarer than this). Very Good host coin, countermark Fine, the countermark an H within a diamond, here stamped on the reverse of a Cayenne Two Sous. The host coin is cleanly and evenly worn, with an edge nick at the base. This countermark was done by Arthur Hodge, whom Vlack lists as a plantation owner on Tortola. Hodge, though, is worthy of a longer introduction to numismatists! He was a slave owner in Tortola, and a particularly brutal one – going beyond the norm for an institution that was based on cruelty. He fathered several children with his female slaves and was fond of holding their heads underwater until they lost consciousness, then reviving them and doing it again. His sadistic nature was blamed for the death of at least ten of his slaves, some whipped to death, two of the female slaves murdered by having boiling water poured down their throats. In 1807 one of Hodge’s slaves named Prosper picked up a mango that had fallen from a tree – and Hodge demanded that he pay six shillings for it, a ridiculous sum of money that no slave would have and multitudes of what a piece of fruit was worth. When Prosper could not find the money Hodge savagely beat him, and he died from his injuries nearly two weeks later. While justice was not swift, Hodge stood trial for this murder some three years later – where he was found guilty of murder and his previous crimes noted in the court records. In a fitting move, Hodge became the first slave owner in the West Indies to be found guilty of this crime, and he was hanged for his deeds. When Hodge took over the plantation he had over 100 slaves – when his wife died some years later there were no longer enough to dig her grave. Sometimes the backstory of a numismatic item is far more interesting than supposed!