Coins of St. Lucia That Never Were

[Galapagos]

Here are my notes from a visit to the National Archives at Kew, regarding the Royal Mint document:

"Franklin Mint 1966-71    20/3728".

The document is mainly concerned with the Royal Mint's (rather admiring) review of Franklin Mint's capability and fast growth as a competitor. It went on to discuss a proposal Franklin had made to the Caribbean island of St Lucia, who wanted her own currency.

St Lucia's officials referred Franklin's proposals to the Royal Mint for advice. The proposals included setting up coinage presses on St Lucia, so that St Lucia would have control over her own currency.

The Royal Mint pointed out that machinery needs qualified staff to keep it maintained, yet it would only need to be used a few days a year to provide coinage for the small St Lucian population. The large expense would not be justified, as presses would stand idle, and the temptation would be to find other projects to keep it busy. This was most likely what Franklin would suggest(!), once everything was set up, the Royal Mint thought.

Anyway, St Lucia obviously accepted the Royal Mint's advice, though there is nothing in the document of the outcome. No designs at all, nor any Royal Mint proposals for a St Lucia currency, were mentioned in the document.

[Figleaf]

Interesting. Yes, at the time, Franklin Mint had the best and the latest in coin presses and was actively pushing its sugary designs on mainly the US markt (though they had large subsidiaries in other countries). At the height of its tastelessness it produced a complete coinage for a nation that already had one. The coins of Guiana would give you an idea of what I think FM had in mind for Saint Lucia. You can't sink much deeper.

Of course, the question of taxation must have crossed the minds of the geniuses in FM also. They could probably imagine themselves doing some deep strategic thinking and jolly laughing at the US IRS on a Saint Lucia beach.

Peter

[Galapagos]

...at the time, Franklin Mint had the best and the latest in coin presses and was actively pushing its sugary designs on mainly the US market (though they had large subsidiaries in other countries). At the height of its tastelessness it produced a complete coinage for a nation that already had one. The coins of Guiana would give you an idea of what I think FM had in mind for Saint Lucia. You can't sink much deeper.

Peter

I've got the FM Guyana set, being a fan of wildlife sets, good and bad. It's not particularly competent, having been produced by a team of designers - the jaguar looks nothing like a jaguar - but sugary is not a word I would have thought of. It's a word I'd apply more to Pobjoy products than any others.

Incidentally, a different team of FM designers produced the Papua New Guinea designs, which I think are superb.

FM did produce some nice sets - I like the birds of Belize (1970s) by the Englishman, Michael Rizzello, and the British Virgin Islands bird set of the early 1970s, by the superb American designer, Gilroy Roberts, who also designed the famous Kennedy half dollar. Not many of these sets were meant for circulation, of course, PNG probably being an exception.