Gibraltar Quart - Keelings 1802

This is an exceptional example of the first issues of British held Gibraltar. These early examples misspell the rock as Gibralter. Later issues changed the denomination to 'Quarto' to better match the Spanish influence of the region.
Robert Keeling was the first merchant to issue tokens in Gibraltar. According to several numismatic authorities Keeling was the owner of a wine house probably in the 'Cooperage district' - wherever that might have been - with a personal address in Governors Lane. The tokens are assumed to have been associated with his wine house.
However, a certain Robert Keeling appears on the 1791 Gibraltar census listed as an ironmonger. His wife's name is given as Eliza and his two children were a newly born Robert and a three year old Catharine.
If this is indeed the merchant in question then Robert arrived in Gibraltar in 1777 from 'N. Britain' as a young man of 20. He is registered as a blacksmith.
The castle has its roots in the heraldry of the Kingdom of Castile, the largest and most important medieval Spanish kingdom, of which Isabella was Queen. The preamble to the warrant granting the coat of arms to Gibraltar said: "...and we, deeming it right, and acknowledging that the said City is very strong and by its situation it is the key between these our kingdoms in the Eastern and Western Seas and the sentinel and defense of the Strait of the said Seas through which no ships of peoples of either of these Seas can pass to the other without sighting it or calling at it."
The idea of Gibraltar being the key to Spain or the Mediterranean originated well before the Spanish conquest. The followers of Tariq ibn Ziyad, who invaded Spain via Gibraltar in 711, are said to have adopted the symbol of the key when they settled in Granada. The coat of arms was accompanied by the inscription "Seal of the noble city of Gibraltar, the Key of Spain". [Wikipedia]
READ or DOWNLOAD some of the best information available on the early Token series of Gibraltar at this: /library/Gibraltar%20Tokens.pdf
And more at this Gibraltar Mint site: [ link ]
Here is the amazing story of the Siege of Gibraltar and some of the tokens involved: [ link ]