Guernsey

Guernsey is one of three British Crown Dependencies. These are three island territories within the British Isleself-governing, offshore territories: the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and the Isle of Man. We have featured a coin from Jersey and Isle of Man previously, so today is Guernsey’s turn.

The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a group of islands (called Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou and Lihou) within the Channel Islands. The Islands are geographically closer to France, only 27 miles from the Normandy coast, and 70 miles from the south coast of England. Guernsey is just over 78 square kilometres (48.5 square miles), with a population of over 60,000.

Part of the Duchy of Normandy from before the Norman Conquest of England, the Channel Islands were retained by the Kings of England when Normandy was lost in 1204. Guernsey and Jersey have remained as two separate crown dependencies, each with their own laws and customs based originally on Norman practice. Effectively independent, yet coming under the protective wing of the British Government, Guernsey is a part of the British Isles but not the United Kingdom. The UK Government is responsible only for the Bailiwick’s international representation and defence.

The Double

The Double is a clear example of Guernsey’s economic and cultural position between England and France. The “Double” is pronounced “doob” in Guernsey’s own language, guernesiaise. GuernseyDonkey gives the pronunciation as “doobulls”. The language is very closely related to Norman French and is very similar to that still spoken in parts of Normandy.

Until the early 19th century, Guernsey used predominantly French currency. Coins from countries including Denmark, Dutch East Indies, Russia, Spain, Portugal and Netherlands coins have also been found in Guernsey. Coins of the French livre were legal tender until 1834, with French francs used until 1921. In 1870, British coins were also made legal tender, with the British shilling circulating at 12½ Guernsey pence.

The term “Double” came from the French denomination “Double Denier” (2 Deniers). There were many denominations in France in the 1700s, but the double denier (2 Deniers) was a common small copper coin. Looking up Numista for French coins in the 1700s gives a good breakdown under the heading. Guernsey continued to use the earlier French currency until 1834, more than 30 years after French currency reform.

Eight Doubles were equivalent to One Penny In UK currency, so 4 Doubles was a half penny, 2 Doubles a Farthing and 1 Double a half farthing. Half Farthings were issued in the UK, originally for use in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) though also adopted in the UK itself, so such a small denomination was not unique. In fact, in the 1830s-50s, the UK also issued a Quarter Farthing for Ceylon.

In 1829, The Guernsey Pound was declared equal to 24 French Francs (Livres). This works out to 10 French Centimes to 1 UK Penny to Eight Guernsey Doubles.

Obverse

The obverse of the coin features the country name under the coat of arms of Guernsey: “a shield with three lions passant guardant on a red shield surmounted by a sprig”. A shield with these three lions is in wide use as an emblem in England. Its use in Guernsey stems from the time that Edward I in 1279 sent a single seal, including the shield with the three lions of the King for use in the Channel Islands.

The coat of arms is not dissimilar to the coat of arms of Jersey, as featured on the 1/52 Shilling I shared previously. Like that coin, as the smallest denomination of the first series of coins, the 1830 1 Double is Guernsey’s “KM1” coin. That is the first reference number issued by Krause for a coin from any given country in the Standard Catalog of World Coins.

Reverse

The Reverse of the coin features the value and year in text on three lines: “1 DOUBLE 1830”. There are some coins with very little decoration on one side, but very few with NOTHING other than the text. Looking back through coins I have posted, the obverse of the 1950 East German 50 Pfennig is perhaps the most recent in the strictest sense. The 2003 Slovenia 500 Tolarjev gets a mention for using minimal shapes on each side to indicate the theme. Otherwise the Austria 10 Groschen and Hungary 2 Forint both have only a pattern around the edge, and the 1975 Germany 5 Deutsche Mark has only a raised rounded square.

What is your favourite “minimalist” coin? Let us know! (Or your favourite KM1 coin?)