Martin Coles Harman (1885-1954)
Category
Coins and medals
Date
1929
Materials
Copper and metal alloy
Measurements
25 mm (Dia)
Place of origin
Lundy
Order this imageCollection
Tyntesfield, North Somerset
NT 26342.4
Summary
A copper coin marked; ONE LUNDY PUFFIN. With a head in profile on the reverse marked and dated; MARTIN COLES HARMAN / 1929. Part of a collection of British coins. Martin Coles Harman (born 1885 in Steyning, Sussex) who bought the island of Lundy in 1925 and proclaimed himself King of Lundy. He later issued an independent Lundy currency of Half Puffin & 1 Puffin coins, which were nominally equivalent to the British Halfpenny & Penny, resulting in his prosecution by the United Kingdom authorities for issuing illegal coinage under the Coinage Act of 1870. The House of Lords found him guilty in 1931, and he was fined £5 with fifteen guineas expenses. The coins were withdrawn and became collectors' items.
Provenance
Purchased from the estate of the late Lord Wraxall with the assistance of the NHMF and donations from members and supporters.