Canada Prince Edward Island Large Bronze One Cent Coin 1871 Queen Victoria
Bronze Cent of Queen Victoria of 1871
Minted by Heaton & Sons, Birmingham, England (under the supervision of the Royal Mint, London)
Obverse: Within a beaded circle: head of Queen Victoria wearing a diadem, facing left; legend around, VICTORIA QUEEN 1871
Engraver: Leonard Charles Wyon
Reverse: Drawn from the island's seal. It shows a large oak, symbol of England, over three oak seedlings which are the symbol of the island's three counties. Around it, the Latin sentence "PARVA SUB INGENTI", meaning "The small under the tall".
Lettering: PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND PARVA SUB INGENTI ONE CENT
Engraver: Leonard Charles Wyon
Edge: Smooth
Country: Canadian provinces (Prince Edward Island)
Year: 1871
Value: 1 Cent
Metal: Bronze
Weight: 5.67 g
Diameter: 25.4 mm
Thickness: 1.42 mm
Shape: Round
Prince Edward Island was the last of the British North American colonies to adopt a decimal system of currency. 'Going decimal' in 1871, the island chose a dollar equal in value to the United States one-dollar gold piece, in line with the decimal currency system introduced earlier in the Provinces of Canada and New Brunswick and adopted by the Dominion of Canada in 1867. The only decimal coin struck for PEI. prior to its entry in Confederation in 1873 was a one-cent piece in 1871. This attractive coin was designed and engraved by Leonard C. Wyon, who for some forty years was the principal engraver for the Royal Mint in London
$10,000 worth of 1 cent coins were ordered (with the same weight as the British 1/2 penny) the obverse of the coin depicts a diadem head of the queen, a design that was already being used for the Jamaica halfpenny. The reverse was adapted from THE official seal for the island. The central design shows a large oak tree (representing the United Kingdom) sheltering three smaller ones (which symbolised Prince Edward Island's three counties) with the Latin phrase PARVA SUB INGENTI ('The small beneath the great') below. Because of heavy pressure of work on other coinage, the Royal Mint was forced to contract with the Heaton Mint in Birmingham (a private firm) to produce the Prince Edward Island cents.
Prince Edward Island dollar
Under the Act 34 Vict., c.5 of 1871 Princ Edward Island adopted the decimal system of currency, its dollar linked to that of the Dominion of Canada and the United States of America. The Prince Edward Island dollar (currency of Prince Edward Island) replaced the pound in 1872 at a rate of 1 pound = 4.866 dollars (equivalent to the Canadian dollar). The dollar was subdivided into 100 cents. On 26 June 1873 Prince Edward Island was incorporated within the Dominion of Canada.