This is a token I recently added to my collection. I tend to be drawn to the odd and unusual. This piece qualified when it came up in the recent Davissons auction. Full disclosure: this was pieced together from several online sources. Information is pretty limited and often repeated in auction lots for versions of this token. CEYLON (NOW KNOWN AS SRI LANKA). Colombo Commercial Co. Slave Island Mills. Brass token. 30 mm. 1876. An orange within a wreath of orange leaves; SLAVE ISLAND MILLS around / A tea bush; THE COLOMBO COMMERCIAL CO LIMITED around, 1876 below (The company was involved with coffee export). Pridmore 22. PCGS MS65. Plantation token issued for coffee exportation. The Colombo Commercial Company was founded in London and Ceylon by John Burn, an engineer, who was born in Aberdeen. Burn had gained considerable experience since 1848 in coffee planting and in 1876 he opened his own business in Colombo on-premises purchased, namely, Acland House and grounds covering l3 acres at Slave Island, which was formerly the mess of the Ceylon Rifle Regiment. During the early years of the company's progress, the Slave Island Mills handled coffee, tea, and artificial manures. The company’s stature then was such that it had, "A very neat and well-struck copper token." On its obverse was "The Colombo Commercial Co. Limited 1876" with an embossed tea plant and on the reverse "Slave Island Mills" with two sprigs of orange leaves. Each of the 500 tokens struck was brass, round in shape, 29.9 mm in diameter each weighing 8.05 grams. It represented in specie 3 fanams or 18¾ cents. The design was made in the Ceylon offices of the Colombo Commercial Company. The Mill was on Lake Road, in Slave Island. Ceylon abolished slavery in 1845 but a part of Colombo is still called Slave Island based on the use of this area that occurred before 1845. One online resource (https://roar.media/english/life/srilanka-life/the-slave-island-that-we-have-forgotten/) notes that today Slave Island is "one of downtown Colombo's major hotspots today." Slave Island (also known as Kampong Kertel and Kompanna Veediya) is a suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka, located directly south of the Fort. The suburb contains Beira Lake, a large lake and its esplanade are visited by many for recreation. Lying just 2 kilometers further inland from the hustle and bustle of the Colombo Fort, the suburb of Slave Island is steeped in a colorful and vibrant past, spanning from the early colonial period of the 16th century. Presently, a major hotspot in Colombo for many a traveler to escape the cosmopolitan culture of Colombo Fort, this suburb of Colombo Fort serves to be a prime example of Sri Lanka’s multi-cultural society that coexists together. Thus making it an intriguing location for the culture enthusiast.
