| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Denomination | 4½ pence |
| Alloy | Lead |
| Width | 29.3 mm |
| Height | 20.4 mm |
| Thickness | 1.6 mm |
| Weight | 4.53 gms |
| Shape | Elliptical |
| Edge | Plain |
| DieAxis | Uniface |
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowsley #3 Pridmore #2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Obverse : | Center a long ornamental scroll with | ALISTONS,SCOTT&Co . COLUMBO . | along periphery within beaded ellipse inside raised rim. |
| Reverse : | Blank |
This firm was founded in 1848 by J. B. Alston and Alex. Scott who were
joined in 1853 by George Alston. Following the slump in coffee in
1853 owing to the abolition of the preferential duty on coffee in
Great Britain and the fall in the price per cwt from 105/= to 48/=,
internal trouble developed in the firm. The partnership was dissolved
in or about 1854 and two new firms were established.
(a) Alston Scott & Co., which closed down in 1891
(b) A. & B. Scott & Co., which eventually sold out to Alston Scott &
Co. in 1871.
From the name ALSTONS being expressed in the plural, the leaden tokens
would appear to have been issued after the arrival of George Alston in
1853 and before the dissolution of the partnership in or about 1854.
This is a rare token, one of the oldest for which a date of issue can be firmly infered from the name. It is one of only two lead tokens and the only elliptical token listed for Ceylon in Pridmore. Unlisted in Mitchiner.
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 Uncirculated token was scanned at 300dpi and the images are
displayed at 200dpi.
It was purchased in 2002 May from a dealer in
USA.