PREVIEW: THE TANKERSLEY COLLECTION OF COINS & TOKENS: 24 JANUARY

The French took control of the Ionian islands in 1807 and held them against British attacks during the Napoleonic Wars until the British occupied the southernmost islands in 1809-10, with Corfu and Paxos remaining under French rule.

Famine came when the British imposed a naval blockade, and it was only a matter of time before the French yielded. Paxos fell in late 1813, with Corfu following suit in 1815 after Napoleon abdicated. From then the United States of the Ionian Islands became a British protectorate until uniting with the Kingdom of Greece in 1864.

 

Against this backdrop the British reinforced their rule by countermarking local currency with the head of King George III. The example in this sale is a Tari coin issued under the rule of Charles II, King of Naples (1655-1700) and countermarked with a crude bust of George III over 50 within an oval ident to create a coin worth 50 Paras.

Such countermarked coins were issued between 1809 and 1819 and survivors are extremely rare. The estimate is £3,000-4,000.