Isle of Man, 1 pound coin, 1996: Centenary of Douglas

[<k>]

In 1996 the Isle of Man issued a pound coin celebrating the Centenary of Douglas.

The design was a variation on the one used as part of the pound coin town series in 1986.

I had thought that in 1996 Douglas was already a lot older than 100 years.

It was made the capital of Mann in 1869, according to Wikipedia - not 1896.

So what does this centenary REALLY mark?

[SandyGuyUK]

According to www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/wiki/Douglas the coat of arms was granted on March 2, 1896.

The BBC news website in an article on 10 December 2021 mentions that Douglas was granted borough status in 1896 so that makes a bit more sense of what was being commemorated and why the arms were issued then.

[<k>]

According to www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/wiki/Douglas the coat of arms was granted on March 2, 1896.

The centenary of the coat of arms! I see. That makes sense. Rather a strange event to commemorate, though.

[Figleaf]

Gentlemen, you seem to be confusing two non-events with a third one. Quoting Wikipedia:

In 1869, the decision was made by Tynwald, the Island's parliament, to move the capital from Castletown in the south of the Island to Douglas.

In 1895, Douglas was formally incorporated into a town. The Douglas Municipal Corporation Act of 1895 was passed by Tynwald to provide for the election of 18 councillors for the town's six wards with six aldermen elected by the councillors. This legislation enabled the formation of the Municipal Borough of Douglas in 1896.

[SandyGuyUK]

Thank you for the clarification!!! 

That will teach me to keep on digging further before jumping to conclusions!

[<k>]

This legislation enabled the formation of the Municipal Borough of Douglas in 1896.

Correction noted.