British Empire & C/W: a parade of pre-decimal denominations

Started by <k>, October 21, 2011, 09:26:27 PM

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<k>



Fiji's sixpence was another one to portray an animal: a turtle.

It was the work of Englishman Percy Metcalfe.

He had earlier designed Ireland's famous barnyard coin series.





Australia's coat of arms features stylised animals.

However, New Zealand's sixpence carried a lifelike portrayal of a huia bird.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

Ireland19556d.jpg


Here is Mr Metcalfe's famous wolfhound on the Irish sixpence.

It had a weight of 4.54 grams and a diameter of 20.8 mm.

It was the largest sixpence that I know of.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

Southern Rhodesia 6 pence  1948.jpg

Southern Rhodesia depicted a pair of crossed African axes on its sixpence.



Rhodesia and Nyasaland  6-pence 1955.jpg

Rhodesia and Nyasaland featured a watchful leopard.



Rhodesia 6d  1964.jpg

A flame lily appeared on the Rhodesian sixpence.

It was also denominated as 5 cents in the new decimal system.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

Zambia 6d  1964.jpg

The sixpence of independent Zambia depicts a morning glory flower.



Zambia 6d  1966.jpg

Zambia's second sixpence of 1966 replaced the coat of arms with a portrait of President Kaunda.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

Malawi 6d 1964.jpg

Nearby Malawi depicts President Banda and his political party's symbol, a cockerel.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

Gambia 6d  1966.jpg

On an agricultural theme, Gambia's sixpence featured peanuts.



Nigeria 6d  1959.jpg

Nigeria's sixpence of 1959 depicted cocoa beans.

It had a diameter of 17.5mm, around 2mm smaller than normal for a sixpence.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>




Ghana's sixpence was, I believe, the smallest sixpence.

It weighed 2.2g and had a diameter of 16.5mm.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>




New Guinea had the world's only sixpence with a central hole.

However, all its coins were holed. Diameter: 18.7mm.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>



Biafra also issued a sixpence after it briefly broke away from Nigeria.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

THE SHILLING

The shilling was part of the now defunct pound, shillings and pence system. The British exported this system to various parts of their empire. The lower the denomination, the more likely the different coins were to show variations, as can be observed in the threepences particularly, but the shillings were fairly uniform acroos the empire in terms of size, shape, weight and colour.

The silver and cupro-nickel shillings of the UK and the various countries of the Empire that used it were usually around 23.5mm in diameter. If any shilling I am displaying falls outside that range, I will say so. My focus is not primarily on the UK itself (the British and English shillings have far too long a history for a single topic), but on the Commonwealth and Empire, which means I will be concentrating overwhelmingly on the 20th century. However, I will start off with a Victorian shilling, in order to compare it with a shilling that was used by a country that was not in the Empire (though it was conquered by the British later) but which used the pounds shilling and pence system nevertheless: the Transvaal Republic.



UK 1s 1855.jpg





Notice how both coins portray a tied wreath.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

South Africa 1s 1923, 1937, 1955.jpg


The Transvaal Republic was eventually defeated.

Its territory was merged into the Union of South Africa.


South Africa's first shilling, of 1923 and 1924, had a inner ring on the reverse design.

The denomination was shown as "1 SHILLING 1".

From 1926 onwards the ring was lost.

The denomination changed to simply "SHILLING".

From 1951 until 1960, the end of the coin's life, the denomination was "1s".
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

Uk19631sEnglish.jpg



1s53e.jpg



Cyprus1s1949.jpg

Two other shillings with similar designs,

They are the English-themed shilling of Elizabeth II.

It features the three lions of England.

The Cyprus shilling has a similar design of two heraldic lions.

The Cyprus shilling was divided into 9 piastres - not 12 pence.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>




From 1910 to 1936 Australia also used a heraldic design on its shilling.

The animal supporters on the arms looked far more realistic than heraldic lions.

In 1938 the coinage was updated, and the shilling now depicted a prize Merino ram.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>



New Zealand used a Maori warrior as it reverse design through the life of its shilling.



New Zealand 1s 1968-.jpg

After decimalisation, New Zealand's 10 cents coin was doubly-denominated, as 10 cents and one shilling.

Strangely, none of the other decimal coins with a pre-decimal counterpart was given a double denomination.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

Southern Rhodesia 1s 1952.jpg

The famous Zimbabwe bird appeared on the reverse of the Southern Rhodesian shilling.



RhodesiaandNyasaland1s1955_zpsdbebffe7.jpg

The reverse of the shilling of Rhodesia and Nyasaland depicts a sable antelope.



Rhodesia 1s  1964.jpg

Like the New Zealand 10 cents of the 1960s, the 1964 10 cents of Rhodesia was also doubly-denominated.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.