The fifth and final coin in the Bermuda Monetary Authority?s (BMA) Heritage Series ? released this week ? celebrates the Bermuda?s tradition of stonecutting.

Stone quarrying was chosen as a key feature in Bermudian heritage because it was a trade that black Bermudian masons could ?gain a measure of independence in a highly segregated society?, the BMA said.

They said that ?the first stonecutters were often slaves or indentured labourers, but after emancipation, the trade was mostly in the hands of West Indian and Portuguese immigrants and subsequently, mostly black Bermudian masons.

Few people here are now employed by stonecutting and there are no working quarries left. The BMA presented a stone quarrying coin to Mr. Robert Lee, who is one of Bermuda?s oldest living stonecutters and helped BMA with the research for their heritage coin 2004.