The Coins and Notes of the Keeling Cocos Islands: Used on a Tiny Island and Collected Around the World

The Keeling-Cocos islands are a small atoll in the Indian Ocean around 3,000km north-west of Perth and only around 1,300km from Indonesia. It was most recently in the news for suffering the impact of unprecedented swells and tides, as well as the Island's largest employer entering administration. As an Australian Territory, it became a hugely-popular holiday destination with West Australians living behind that State's impenetrable COVID border.

The money used on this group of tiny islands has appealed to collectors the world over for decades. Keeling cocos Islands coins provide a gateway to learning the history of this beautiful and isolated Australian territory.

A Quick History of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands

• The Cocos Atoll was discovered by Captain William Keeling in 1609;

• The islands were charted and named the Cocos-Keeling Islands in 1805;

• Captain John Clunies-Ross landed on the islands in 1825;

• John Clunies-Ross assumed control of the islands in 1831;

• Queen Victoria granted the islands to George Clunies-Ross "and his descendants" in 1886, a rather unique circumstance in the British Empire;

• The Cocos-Keeling Islands "officially’ became an Australian Territory in 1955;

• The Australian Commonwealth Government purchased all of the Clunies-Ross land for A$6.25 million in 1978;

• The Cocos Malay population voted to integrate with Australia in 1984.

The Coins and Currency of the Clunies-Ross Era (1825 ~ 1955)

Several different series of coins and currency notes were issued for use in the Cocos Keeling Islands over the years. These different series reflect the scale of the local economy, as well as the objectives of the issuing authorities. The circumstances in which the various forms of currency were issued raise questions about the morals of the scrip system and the impact it has had on the workers that used it. Some of those impacts are felt to this day.

Currency Series I [1858] - Sheepskin / John George Clunies-Ross (Ross II)

In 1858 the first local currency was introduced in the form of sheepskin notes, exchangeable at the Ross store, and primarily for payment of the Malay workers. Crudely printed on small, thick pieces of (vellum) parchment, they were all hand-signed by Clunies-Ross II and denominated in copper rupees. They were colloquially known as the "Cocos Rupee", and could be redeemed at the company store.

Currency Series II [1879] - Sheepskin / George Clunies-Ross (Ross III)

This series was also printed on sheepskin, and was signed by George Clunies-Ross III.

Currency Series III [1880 ~ 1888] - Sheepskin / George Clunies-Ross III (Ross III)

This series was similar in appearance to those from Series II, with minor changes in appearance as well as in the dates of issue evident.

Currency Series IV [1888] - Sheepskin / George Clunies-Ross III (Ross III)

This series features the crest of the islands for the first time, and are still hand-signed and numbered.

Currency Series V [1897] - Paper / George Clunies-Ross III (Ross III)

These small notes were printed on paper, featured the crest at the top and the denomination in red ink. Each note was hand-signed and numbered.

Currency Series VI [1902] - Paper / George Clunies-Ross III (Ross III)

These small notes were printed on paper, featured the crest at the top and the denomination in red ink. They featured a printed signature of Clunies-Ross and printed serial numbers.

Coin Series I [1913 ~ 1955] - Ivorine

The first series of coins issued for the Keeling Cocos Islands is one of the most innovative coins issued around the world in the 20th century. The material used is known as "ivorine", a compound of nitrocellulose and camphor. Chosen to resist the rigours of circulation in a tropical climate, ivorine resembled ivory in appearance and was inexpensive to use. Each of these tokens shows the crest of the Islands, along with the denomination and the date of 1910. Mintage figures ranged from 1,000 for the 2 and 5 rupees, to 5,000 for the 5c through to the 25c.

A range of written records affirm that these coins circulated until the Keeling Cocos Islands became an Australian territory in 1955.

Token Series I [1968] - Kematal by ICI / John Cecil Clunies-Ross (Ross V)

John Cecil Clunies-Ross introduced another innovative series of coins (tokens) in 1968, made in colourful plastic. Research by the Western Australian numismatist John Wheatley has determined that the blanks and printing process were sourced and developed in the United Kingdom and the tokens themselves were "made" on-site on Home Island. Wheatley shows an image of the machine used to "produce" the tokens (housed in the Island's museum), as it looks to have a pneumatic arm of some kind and has a pressure gauge, it seems the incuse designs were impressed into the blank plastic planchets on site.

Just whether these tokens circulated as currency has been an open point of discussion. Wheatley quotes correspondence from an Australian Commonwealth government official in 1970 who stated “Australian currency is the only legal tender in Cocos Islands Territory. It is understood that the estate of John Clunies-Ross, based on Home Island in the Cocos Group, uses certain tokens for its internal accounting, but these are not used outside the estate and are not recognized as legal currency."

"Internal accounting purposes" sounds to be an oblique term used by a public servant intending to avoid explicitly naming the reason the tokens existed without ceding the Commonwealth's authority. We can imagine that bringing and more to the point maintaining a "float" of cash from the Australian mainland would have come at some expense and administrative overhead, and I have no doubt it would have been seen by the Island's administration as far easier to introduce a series of tokens that could circulate locally within the closed economy of the islands. A paper published in the Law Journal of the Queensland Institute of Technology in covering the path the Keeling Cocos Islands followed towards self-determination explicitly states: "Workers on the estate were paid in plastic tokens redeemable for food, clothing and essentials at the Clunies-Ross store, rather than in Australian currency..."

Australia's economic history has several other examples of parallel private currencies being introduced to solve the problem of currency staying in-place in a remote economy - our Holey Dollar and Dump are a prime example, as well as our extensive series of tradesman's tokens and paper shinplasters and other currency notes. As repugnant as the thought might be, if the introduction of these tokens allowed the island's administration greater control over the inhabitants, we can see the appeal they had.

Token Series II [1977] - Copper; Copper-Nickel; Silver and Gold by Valcambi

In the early 1970s, the Australian government started taking a more active interest in the islands, seeking to bring the territory under direct administrative control to ensure the residents’ rights were recognized and to oversee infrastructure development. Throughout the 1970s, the Australian government negotiated with the Clunies-Ross family and began gradually assuming more responsibility for the administration of the islands. This process culminated in the Australian Commonwealth Government purchasing all of the Clunies-Ross land for A$6.25 million in 1978.

In the context of these discussions, the Clunies-Ross family would have been keenly aware of a closing window of opportunity to express their pride in their unique independent island heritage. Ahead of the inevitable adoption of Australian currency once any ownership deal with the Commonwealth government was finalized, a series of circulating and NCLT coins were designed, commissioned and struck to celebrate the 150th anniversary of settlement at the islands.

Struck by the private mint of Valcambi in Switzerland, all of the coins featured an island scene with the denomination on the reverse, and the portrait of John Clunies-Ross on the obverse. They are the first metal currency of the islands.

An article in the New York Times newspaper in August 1977 outlines an argument for the convertibility of the coins, and thus their legitimacy as legal tender: "...all offices of . . . the Deak-Perera group will exchange these coins at face value for any kind of hard currency required." The theoretical convertibility does not seem to have been adpoted in practice, as a member of the Clunies-Ross family is quoted as having said "...the family buried a large quantity in concrete under the kitchen in Oceania House...".

That the coins could also be sold to collectors around the world was either an added bonus or the main aim of the 1977-dated coins. Sales were thwarted by the theft of the entire shipment of gold coins from Switzerland. Of the 4,000 coins originally struck (2,000 proof and 2,000 Uncirculated) in 75% pure gold, just 250 were recovered. A second release of gold coins was made withn the same mintage figures but in a higher purity.

Token Series III [2003 / 2004] - Copper; Copper-Nickel; Silver and Gold

In 2000, the Shire Council of the Cocos Keeling Islands authorized a series of coins to be struck by a private American mint. There was an extended delay to the coins entering production, they were eventually released across 2003 and 2004. Although the authorized mintages for the circulating coins reached into the tens of thousands, just 5,000 Uncirculated sets were released.

The Australian coin dealer Downie's are said to have purchased "a large portion" of the mintage of each coin, and released a set of 7 coins in 2004. As the islands were clearly and unquestionably under the authority of the Australian Commonwealth Government at this time, these coins should really be regarded as fantasty pieces.

Token Series IV [2023] - Details To Be Advised

Little is known of this series of coins, as they have just started to be seen in a variety of online advertisements. The designs are similar to those issued previously, with an island scene and the legend around on the obverse, while the reverse of each coin shows an aspect of the islands' marine life and the denomination on the other. Again, as the islands remain clearly and unquestionably under the authority of the Australian Commonwealth Government, these coins are nothing more than fantasty pieces.

Where is the Market for These Coins?

The development of a governance relationship between Australia and the Keeling Cocos Islands brought the coins and currency of this tiny colonial outpost within the remit of Australian collectors from the middle of the 20th century.

The more immediate relationship between the Cocos Malay population and the nations of Indonesia; Malaysia and Singapore mean the coins, tokens and currency of the Keeling Cocos Islands are also of interest to collectors across South East Asia.

Across the world, it is popular for many collectors to aspire to owning at least one coin from each country, nation or issuing authority that has ever made coins. Different collectors set different parameters for such collections, but all of the coins and notes discussed here will have varying degrees of appeal to such collectors.