Turk and Caicos Islands: collector coins

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Map of the Caribbean region.

Map of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Turks and Caicos Islands are around 60 km (37 miles) long and consist of over 40 islands and cays. They form a British Overseas Territory. There are roughly 30,000 inhabitants on the islands.

The archipelago consists of two island groups, the Turks islands and the Caicos islands, of which Grand Turk and Providenciales are the two main islands. These islands are in the Atlantic Ocean and not the Caribbean Sea, although they are included in the Caribbean region.

A cay, also spelled caye or key, is a small low-elevation sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

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From Wikipedia:

The Turks and Caicos Islands were inhabited for centuries by native Amerindian peoples. The first recorded European sighting of the islands occurred in 1512. In the subsequent centuries, the islands were claimed by several European powers, with the British Empire eventually gaining control. For many years the islands were governed indirectly through Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the islands received their own governor, and have remained a separate autonomous British Overseas Territory since.

Nowadays the islands are known primarily for tourism and as an offshore financial centre. The resident population was 31,458 as of 2012, of whom 23,769 live on Providenciales in the Caicos Islands; July 2018 estimates put the population at 53,700. It is the third largest of the British overseas territories by population.

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Coat of arms.

From Wikipedia:

The coat of arms of the Turks and Caicos Islands was granted in 1965. The arms consist of a shield bearing a conch shell, a lobster and a cactus on a yellow background. The dexter and sinister supporters are flamingos. The crest is a pelican between two sisal plants representing connection to the rope industry.

The cactus, which is visually similar to the traditional Turkish fez, give the islands the first half of their name.

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The shield from the arms features on the flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

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In the 1960s, at a time of increasing worldwide prosperity, many countries and territories started producing collector coins on a regular basis, in order to cater for the increasing number of collectors.

The Turks and Caicos Islands contributed to this trend by issuing its first collector coin in 1969. The coin portrayed the Queen on the obverse and its coat of arms on the reverse. It commemorated nothing. More interesting was its denomination of one crown. This was not the crown known and minted by the British, which was equal to 5 shillings - or 25 pence in modern terms. The islands used the US dollar as its currency and did not issue its own banknotes or circulating coinage. This collector crown was the equivalent of 1 US dollar. Therefore the collector coin referenced Britain by its denomination but the USA by its monetary value. No doubt the coin was issued to appeal to the lucrative US collector market.

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The next crown coin, issued in 1975, again commemorated nothing. The reverse featured a map of the islands. Interestingly, the edge inscription reads:

REDEEMABLE AT TURKS AND CAICOS FOR US CURRENCY

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Turks and Caicos, 5 crowns, 1975.  Turk's head cactus. Melocactus intortus.


A 5 crowns collector coin of 1975 featured the local cactus on the reverse, one of the few world coins to show a cactus.

See: The cactus on coins.

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The territory emphasised its Britishness by issuing a gold coin in 1974 to commemorate the birth centenary of Winston Churchill.

Again the coin was denominated in crowns, this time 100 crowns. I believe that is the highest denomination that is ever used on the collector coins.

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The territory emphasised its links to the USA by commemorating that country's bicentennial in 1976 on a 20 crowns coin.

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Turks and Caicos, 1981, ¼ crown.   Crayfish.


In 1981 the territory issued a two coin set for collectors. The obverse featured the Machin portrait of the Queen.

The denominations were a quarter crown and a half crown. Is the quarter crown a unique denomination among world coins?

The reverse of the quarter crown featured a Caribbean spiny lobster (Panuliras argus). The coin was 24 mm in diameter and equal in value to a US quarter.

More than one person has told me that this coin circulated on the islands.

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The half crown of the set featured a salt windmill on the reverse. The islands have a history of salt production.

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The windmill design had first appeared on a 10 crowns coin of 1977.

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It is interesting to see that sometimes the Queen's portrait appears on the obverse, and other times it is the coat of arms.

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In 1990 the territory issued a crown coin to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Queen Mother. The reverse depicted two cacti.

See: Queen Mother's 90th birthday commemoratives: flower series of 1990.

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Turks and Caicos, 20 crowns, 1989.


In 1989 a new portrait of the Queen appeared on the territory's coins. I do not know who the artist was.

See: Worst portraits on coins.