These are very common , however , finding a good example as in the picture is a bit more challenging.Sourcing the small variety are more difficult proving to be relatively scares.
Material Brass , Size 30.5mm x Thickness 1.4mm . The edge is smooth . (To update and add Variety size).
As a token collector you probably will have some of these in your collection and as a new token collector it is interesting getting them purely because of the history behind Hut Tax .
Notice the Number on the smaller token is 4462
"Hut Tax" was a taxation of British colonialists at the beginning of the last century on a per hut or household basis. Think Rates and Taxes in today's terms that you are paying on your property , yes ...not much has changed !
It was variously payable in money, labour, grain or stock and benefited the colonial authorities and by default the labours . It raised money thus supported the currency and it broadened the cash economy. Aiding further development but it forced Africans to labour in the colonial economy and moving them into the modern era. Something they where at times not to happy about , so much so that wars actually broke out because of "Hut Tax"
Metal tokens were issued in Southern Rhodesia and Bechuanaland. Some tokens were issued for The Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Free State.
In 1908 the following hut taxes were imposed in Southern Africa: - In Natal, under Law 13 of 1857, 14 shillings per hut occupied by natives. Natives that lived in European style houses with only one wife were exempt from the tax.
- In the Transkei, 10 shillings per hut.
- In the Cape Colony, various forms of the "house duty" had existed since the 1850s. The tax was legally applicable to all house-owners in the Cape, regardless of race or region, but was only partially enforced, especially in rural areas. A full and universally applicable house tax was imposed in 1870 (Act 9 of 1870), and was more fully enforced, due to the government's severe financial difficulties at the time. The highly unpopular tax was terminated in 1872 (Act 11 of 1872), but a new and higher duty was applied by the Sprigg government during the wars of 1878, when government expenditure was extremely high. The Cape's most controversial "hut tax" was established under Act 37 of 1884, and specified 10 shillings per hut with exclusions for the elderly and infirm. It was repealed under Act 4 of 1889.
- In Mashonaland, now part of Zimbabwe, hut tax was introduced at the rate of ten shillings per hut in 1894. Although authorized by the Colonial Office in London, the tax was paid to the British South Africa Company, the agent of colonial government in the area.
Coinciding with confiscations of cattle, the introduction of forced labour and a series of natural disasters, the tax probably contributed to the Shona part of the rebellion against the colonialists in 1896, known as the First Chimurenga or Second Matabele War. There are many other types of Hut Tax tokens , many bearing the inscription of the British South Africa Company or BSAC or BSACo .
Some useless info that got me confused a few times when typing 4461 , we in South Africa see a similar number often ....46664 related to Mandela . "The second time that Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island was in 1964, and he was the 466th prisoner that year. His prison number remained 466/64 until 1982, when he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison and given the prison number 220/82. "Prisoner 46664" continues to be used as a reverential title for him."
Sometimes not sure what we must read on that "666" in there ...?
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