Sierra Leone - Proclamation of Antislavery - 1807

Token issue by a principle firm in early Sierra Leone history. Sierra Leone was colonized by freed slaves, many of whom fought for the British in the American Revolutionary War, and escaped to Canada and were resettled to Sierra Leone. Also "lewd women sent from England earlier (1775-6). The obverse depicts a white official and a tribal leader shaking hands, with 3 thatched huts, several people hoeing their field, and people dancing around a tree with joy. The legend "WE ARE ALL BRETHREN, SLAVE TRADE ABOLISHED BY GREAT BRITAIN, 1807" is the obvious reason for their joy. This proclamation date does not indicate the date of manufacture, the initial striking of 50k pieces was done in 1814. A historically interesting and significant issue, originally struck to circulate at the company's trading posts in Sierra Leone.
This trader's currency token [MACAULAY & BABINGTON] commemorates the Act of the British Parliament that was passed to outlaw the importation of slaves from outside the British Empire. The final Act of outlawing the slave trade within the British Empire was passed in 1833. The people of Sierra Leone had good reason to rejoice at this news as the original British colonists were freed slaves and "lewd" (prostitutes) women sent from London in 1776. The reverse has Arabic script which reads "THE SALE OF SLAVES PROHIBITED IN ENGLAND IN 1807 OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA IN THE REIGN OF SULTAN GEORGE III, VERILY WE ARE ALL BROTHERS."
This token penny can be found in various varieties, all scarce to rare. The most common are the ones restruck on thicker planchets (24.94 - 26.75 g.) as medals and listed as being re-struck between 1830-1832; I imagine this was due to the announcement of the 1833 law banning slavery altogether. Other varieties (all proof, weight and restrike status unknown) are gilt copper, solid silver, and ones omitting the "GFP" engravers initials. The bronze medal is engraved by GF Pidgeon & J Philp (reverse) for Macauley & Babington, struck circa 1814. There is no evidence these were struck at Boulton's Soho mint, although the varieties struck are familiar to that mint. That mint's last production was for the St. Helena island's commemoration of the 1821 death of Napoleon Bonaparte.
In 1807, the slave trade was criminalized in Great Britain, though this did not outlaw slavery itself. A medal commemorating this progressive step was designed by G.F. Pidgeon and struck at the Soho mint in 1814 for Zachary Macaulay’s trade with Sierra Leone. Macaulay had spent his younger years in Jamaica and made significant contributions to the abolitionist cause by collecting and organizing a great deal of horrifying information about slavery in the West Indies. Curiously, the reverse inscription “Abolishment of the slave trade in England in the 1807" year of salvation by the command of the Sultan George III, for we are all brothers” is in Arabic, and was the work of Soho mint engraver John Philip.
VIEW & DOWNLOAD:
Numismatic Impressions of the Abolitionist Movement - Kyle Knapp [a PREMIER article!] /library/Numismatic%20Impressions%20of%20the%20Abolitionist%20Movement%20_%20Knapp.pdf