| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Denomination | 6.0 pence |
| Alloy | Brass |
| Diameter | 29.0 mm |
| Thickness | mm |
| Weight | 7.45 gms |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| DieAxis | O° |
| Issue | |
Borella Mills, Colombo
A Brass Token struck in Birmingham in 1859 for company Alex & Binney Scott founded around 1854 for use in the Borella Mills.
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| Lowsley #2 Pridmore #88 Mitchiner #2245 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Obverse : | Legend along periphery | A & B. SCOTT & CO. COLOMBO | a stag's head erased. |
| Reverse : | Legend along periphery | COFFEE STORE 1859 | an elephant facing left standing on a scroll. |
These tokens were valued at 6 pence untill the currency reform of 1870, then re-valued to 25 cents. This is probably the first Coffee token minted with a date of issue.
SCOTT, A. & B. & CO.Founded around 1854 the firm Alex & Binney Scott held the important agency for the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, one of the earliest banks to establish an agency in Colombo. The token was struck by Ralph Heaton & Sons, Birmingham, and was used in the Borella Mills. The firm merged back with the parent firm Alston Scott & Co in 1871 and the mill sold to Carson Morris & Co was pulled down in 1883.
Text from
* Coins and Tokens of Ceylon, 1895 by Colonel B. Lowsley - (#2)
* The Coins of British Commonwealth of Nations - 1961 by F. Pridmore (#88)
* Oriental Coins AD 600 - 1979 by Michael Mitchiner (#2245)
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.