Scotland, LANARKSHIRE, New Lanark, a Mexico, Charles IIII, 8 Réales, 1794fm, Mexico City, obv. countermarked payable at lanark mills around 4/9, 26.69g/12h (Manville 71, and p.149, this coin listed). Coin fine, countermark about very fine £600-800

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Countermarked Dollars, Property of the late Lt.-Cdr W. E. McLaughlin.

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Provenance: J. Fonrobert Collection, Adolph Weyl Auction (Berlin), 1878, lot 6433; G.F. Ulex Collection, Adolph Hess Auction (Frankfurt), 2 May 1908, lot 121; V.M. Brand Collection; Mrs R. Henry Norweb Collection, Part IV, Spink Auction 59, 17 June 1987, lot 1635.

The Lanark Mills was founded out of a partnership established in 1783 by David Dale (1739-1806), the Glasgow industrialist and financier, and Sir Richard Arkwright (1732-92), the mechanical inventor. The original mill opened in 1785 but burnt down three years later; subsequently rebuilt and with a second mill in full operation, the profitable operation of the business was thwarted by the Napoleonic wars and Dale sold out in 1799 to his son-in-law, the social reformer Robert Owen (1771-1858). Disagreement with his partners over his style of management and the social objectives he set resulted in the sale of the business by auction in December 1813, when Owen’s new Quaker-funded partnership, Robert Owen & Co, bought everything back for £114,100. Owen left the company in 1827 after further disagreements with his backers