The world's oldest coin designs still being issued

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Barbados.

These circulation coins have been in use since their introduction in 1973.

See:  Coinage of Barbados.

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Cayman Islands.

The Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, released its first coinage in 1972.

These original designs are still used on the circulation coinage.

See:  The coinage of the Cayman Islands.

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Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad and Tobago circulation designs date from 1974.

The obverse designs show the coat of arms.


However, the coat of arms was recently amended.

The three ships of Christopher Columbus were removed.

They were regarded as "colonial vestiges".


The ships were replaced by a steelpan: the national musical instrument.

Presumably the coinage will be updated accordingly.

Will the reverse designs then also be updated?

RELATED TOPICS

Coats of arms, colonial vestiges, and their potential numismatic effects

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago changes its coat of arms

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Falkland Islands.

The 1, 2, 5 and 10 pence coins were issued in 1974.

The other coins followed in succeeding decades.

The design series is currently undergoing changes.

Essentially the designs of the lower denominations still date from 1974.

See:  Milestones in the decimal coinage of the Falkland Islands.

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Gambia: 1966 predecimal series.

Let's travel over to Africa now.

The designs used by Gambia originate from those introduced in 1966.

They were reused when the country adopted a decimal currency in 1971. See below.




Gambia: decimal series.

See:  Gambia's predecimal to decimal design transition.

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Botswana.

The lower denominations of Botswana's coins still show designs from 1976.

That is when Botswana's first coin series was introduced.

These coins are mostly much smaller now and/or differ in shape or metal content.

See:  Coinage of Botswana.

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Eswatini.

Swaziland introduced its current design series in 1974.

Since then it has changed its name to Eswatini.

The lowest denomination now in circulation is the 10 cents coin.

See:  Swaziland's coins.

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Ethiopia.

Ethiopia's current coin series was issued in 1977.

The 5, 10, 25 and 50 santims coins still carry their original designs.

See:  Coinage of Ethiopia since 1977.

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West African States.

And here they are.

Yes, they are old and do not cohere. Time for a change.

See also:  Beasts of French Africa.

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Lesotho.

The 10 and 50 lisente coins, and the 1 loti coin, have designs that date from 1979.

See:  Coinage of Lesotho.

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Malawi.

The elephant design dates from 1964 and the heron design from 1971.

The eagle design came much later and dates from 1996.

See:  Malawi.

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Mauritius.

Some of the plain designs of Mauritius go back to Victorian times.

The 1 rupee and half rupee designs date from 1934.

See:  Mauritius: from British colony to independence.

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Comoros.   Obverse designs of the coinage in the 1990s.




Comoros.   Reverse designs of the coinage in the 1990s.

The 50 francs coin was introduced in 1975 and the 100 francs coin in 1977.

The 25 francs coin was not introduced until 1982.

A much smaller 5 francs coin was issued in 2017.


Apparently the 1, 2, 5 and 10 franc coins are rarely used now.

That is because of their low value.

See:  Coinage of Comoros since 1964.

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Madagascar.

The designs at top left and right date from 1965.

The designs at bottom left and middle date from 1978.

The design at bottom right dates from 1992.


Most of the designs look old-fashioned now.

They also do not cohere well.

Time for a new design series?

RELATED TOPICS

Coinage of Madagascar

Madagascar: coin design analysis

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Coins of Djibouti.

The design showing the head of the antelope dates from 1948.

The ship design dates from 1952 and the camel designs from 1970.

The other designs are much more recent.

See:  Coinage of French Somaliland / French Afars and Issas / Djibouti.