| A Jersey Walking Stick |
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Pridmore, in his book, The Coins of The British Commonwealth of Nations,
Part 1: European Territories, recorded various uniface pieces, cast in imitation of the Jersey 1/12th of a shilling.
They generally feature the Arms of Jersey within in a Heater-shaped shield, with the legend STATES OF JERSEY above,
and ONE TWELFTH OF A SHILLING below. One variety has the legend ONE TENTH OF A SHILLING. Several other varieties
have the legend ONE 48TH OF A SHILLING. A similar piece to this is flanked by flowers. It is brass and measures 31.7
millimeters. I believe all of these pieces were used for decoration and were often enameled. Typically, they adorned
the handles of the Jersey cabbage walking sticks, very popular with tourists at the time. A Mr. Henry Gee of Beresfor
Street, St. Helier, Jersey, was a leading manufacturer of these sticks from about 1870 to 1928.
This piece is probably dated 1890 and is a new variety to me.
The variety of cabbage used to make Jersey Cabbage Walking Sticks is Brassica oleracae longata and it is unusual in its growth habit in that the cabbage is produced on a long straight stalk that can reach several feet in height. The dried out sturdy stalks have been put to several uses in the past, including in the construction of roof rafters, but probably the most unusual is as a walking cane. Traditionally the cane would be sanded and varnished to protect the wood, and finished off with a Jersey "coin" set into a mount at the top, and a brass ferrule finished off with a steel tip at the base. The article Plant Portraits, Walking Sticks as Seed Savers--The Case of the Jersey Kale by Hew D.V. Prendergast describes the Jersey walking stick in details. |
