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

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Fiji's shilling depicted an outrigger.

The design was the work of English engraver Percy Metcalfe.

He had earlier designed the Irish barnyard series.




Here is Metcalfe's bull on the Irish shilling.

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Over to British West Africa now (a currency union, not a country).

Its shillings started off as silver.

They became tin-brass, then ended up as nickel-brass like the one aobve.




Gambia, prior to independence, used British West African coinage.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Gambian shilling also portrays a palm tree.


Only the shillings of Rhodesia and Gambia used the Arnold Machin portrait of Elizabeth II.

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East Africa, another currency union, used 50 cents to a shilling.

The fine design of a lion is by George William de Saulles.





How did you guess that Uganda used the East African coinage?

Here we see a crested crane.


The Muhavura volcano is in the background.

I suspect that it also appears on the illustrated East African coin.

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Kenya was another country that used East African coinage before independence.

And Tanzania too. The shillings of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are equal to 100 cents, not 12 pence.

Curiously, the East African shilling was equal to 50 cents.

A hundred East African cents were equal to a florin.

The first Tanzanian shilling issue is listed as 27.5mm in diameter.

The first Ugandan shilling coin was 26 mm.

The first Kenyan shilling was 27.8 mm.

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After independence Nigeria used pounds, shillings and pence, before adopting the naira in 1973. The reverse design depicts palm branches.




Malawi also used pounds, shillings and pence, before adopting the kwacha in 1971. The reverse design depicts corn cobs.




Zambia also used pounds, shillings and pence, before adopting the kwacha in 1971. The reverse design depicts a trumpeter hornbill.




The portrait of President Kaunda replaced the coat of arms in 1966.

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Ghana also used pounds, shillings and pence.

Its shilling was only 21mm in diameter.

Ghana switched to the cedi in 1967.

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New Guinea's shilling was the only one to have a central hole.

However, all the other New Guinea coins were holed.

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Biafra issued a shilling after briefly breaking away from Nigeria in the 1960s.

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Admittedly this is not a coin, but did you know the Japanese issued shillings too?

Who knows in which present-day territories this note was issued?

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The florin or two shillings coin 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 florins were fairly uniform across the empire in terms of size, shape, weight and colour.

From Wikipedia:

In 1847 a motion was introduced in Parliament calling for the introduction of a decimal currency and the striking of coins of one-tenth and one-hundredth of a pound. The motion was subsequently withdrawn on the understanding that a one-tenth pound coin would be produced to test public opinion. There was considerable discussion about what the coin should be called. The name florin was eventually chosen, partly because of its connection with old English coinage, and partly because other European countries also had coins of approximately the same size and weight called florins.

The first florins were struck in 1849 as silver coins weighing 11.3g and having a diameter of 28mm. These first coins would have come as rather a shock to the public, as for the first time in nearly 200 years a British coin featured a portrait of the monarch wearing a crown.

In 1851, the florin was redesigned in a most unusual way. The diameter was increased to 30mm.

All the lettering on the coin was in Gothic script, resulting in it being known as the Gothic florin.

The date was rendered in Roman numerals.



Notice that the florin is also denominated as "one tenth of a pound".

From 1901 to 1910, the florin was doubly denominated as a florin and two shillings.




From 1910 to 1936, the florin was simply denominated as "one florin".

These pictures are from the UK coins site of our member Tony Clayton.

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From 1937 and the reign of George VI, the florin was now denominated simply as two shillings.




This is the final UK two shillings reverse design of the 20th century.

The modern florin or two shillings had a diameter of around 28.5mm.

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Until 1938, the coat of arms appeared on the reverse of the Australian threepence, sixpence, shilling and florin.

The coat of arms on the Australian florin was redesigned in 1938.

However, the designs on the rest of the set assumed a thematic character.

The reverse designs showed animals or a wheat stalk.

Curiously, though, the sixpence retained the original old coat of arms design.


In the UK, the half crown was the highest denomination of circulating coin.

However, many Empire and Commonwealth countries never issued a half crown

Australia was one of those countries.


Many countries showed their coat of arms on their highest circulating coin.

This was often so even if lower denominations showed thematic designs (e.g., animals, plants, ships, etc.).

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Australia, florin, 1927.







Australia, florin, 1934.







Australia, florin, 1951.  50 Years of Federation.




Australia, florin, 1954.  Visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Australia.

Australia frequently used the florin for commemorative issues.

Other Commonwealth countries preferred the crown for this purpose.

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In Fiji, the florin was the highest denomination.

It depicted the country's coat of arms.


The English lion stands above the Cross of St. George.

In its paws it holds a cocoa pod.

In the middle row of the arms you see sugar cane next to a palm tree.

Underneath are a dove and a bunch of bananas.

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The South African florin also carries a coat of arms, but do not be deceived.

South Africa DID have a circulation half crown, which featured a crowned coat of arms.

From 1923 to 1930, the florin showed the word "FLORIN" in the legend.




From 1931 to 1950, the denomination was shown as "2 SHILLINGS".




From 1951 to 1960, the final year of the denomination, the legend simply reads as "2s".