Category Archives: Britain

United Kingdom – 1 Penny Coins

Country or Region: United Kingdom

Year: (left to right) 1912; 1927; 1935; 1962

Created from: 1911-1926; 1926-1927; 1928-1936; 1954-1970

Value: 1 penny

Weight: ~9.5 g

Diameter: ~31 mm

Composition: Bronze

Estimated Modern Value: ~$2.00

Obverse:

ONE PENNY
(1912, 1927, 1935, 1962)

 

Reverse:

(far left, left, right)
GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF: IND: IMP:

Translation:

George the Fifth by the Grace of God King of all the Britons Defender of the Faith Emperor of India

 

(far right)
+ELIZABETH·II·DEI·GRATIA·REGINA·F:D:

Translation:

Elizabeth the Second by the Grace of God Queen Defender of the Faith

British India – 2 Annas Coin

Country or Region: British India

Year: 1945

Minted: Bombay

Value: 1/8 Rupee

Weight: 5.84 grams

Diameter: 25.1 mm

Composition: Nickel and Brass

Estimated Modern Value: ~$5.00

Obverse:
دو آن
दो आना দুই মানা
2
ANNAS
INDIA
1945
రెండుఅణాఒ

Translation:

2 Annas

 

Reverse:

GEORGE VI KING EMPEROR

 

Mintage

There are two varieties of the 2 Annas coin minted in 1945, one minted in Bombay and the other in Calcutta. The two are distinguished by the dots on either side of “1945” on the reverse face of the coin. The coin above, bearing the two dots, was minted in Bombay. Over 136.5 million coins were minted with these markings in Bombay, while only 24 million were minted in Calcutta during that year.

Guernsey – 8 Doubles Coin

Country or Region: Guernsey

Year: 1947

Created from: 1914-1949

Value: 8 Doubles

Weight: 9.7 grams

Diameter: 31.7 mm

Composition: Bronze

Estimated Modern Value: ~$5.00 CAD

Obverse:

GUERNESEY

 

Reverse:

8

Doubles

1947

 

Guernsey

Guernsey is a self-governing, British Crown dependency located off the coast of Normandy in the English Channel. It has a population of around 60,000 people on the island, which covers around 65 squared kilometers.

Up until around 1830, Guernsey utillized French currency, the Franc, before developing its own copper coins, worth 1/80 of a Franc. These coins were denominated in 1, 2, 4, and 8 doubles. Today, Guernsey has its own Guernsey Pound, which is not a separate currency but is issued locally. The 8 Doubles coin was also known as the “Guernsey penny”, with 12 to a “Guernsey shilling” and 100 to a Guernsey pound.

Britain – Halfpenny Coin

Country or Region: Britain

Ruler: Victoria

Year: 1859

Created from: 1838-1860

Value: 1/2 Penny

Weight: 18.8 grams

Diameter: 28 mm

Composition: Copper

Estimated Modern Value: $3.00 CAD

Obverse:

VICTORIA DEI GRATIA
1859

Translation:

Victoria, By the Grace of God
1859

 

Reverse:

BRITANNIAR: REG: FID: DEF:

 

Translation:

Queen of the Britons, Defender of the Faith

 

Overdate Varieties

In the past, coin dies used by minting facilities to strike coins were expensive pieces of equiptment. As a result, during the 18th and 19th centuries, minting facilities often tried their best to preserve or reuse dies rather than replace them in order to cut down costs and avoid the labour required to fabricate a new die. Dies were often used until they broke and many minting facilities recycled dies from the previous year. Overdate varities are an example of die recycling and occur when a new date is punched or re-engraved over the old date.

There are several overdate varieties for this coin minted in the years 1848, 1853, 1858, and 1859.

1859 UK Halfpenny: Overdate Variety – 9 over remnants of 8

 

References

(image) https://www.allcoinvalues.com/united-kingdom/1859-uk-halfpenny-value2c-victoria2c-young-head2c-9-over-8.html

https://bestcoin.com/OverDate-Error-Coins.htm

 

 

Britain – Halfpenny Condor Token

Country or Region: Britain

Year: 1791/1795

Created from:

Value: 1/2 Penny

Weight:

Diameter: 28 mm

Composition: Copper

Estimated Modern Value: ??

Obverse:

NUNQUAM ARESCERE

MDCCXCI

Translation:

Never Become Dry

1791

 

Reverse:

Rule Britannia

1795

 

Edge Inscription:

Payable in London

 

Mule Coins

This coin is incredibly unique due to the fact that the two sides – the Lady of Britannia and the River God – were never meant to be seen together on a single coin. According to a fellow collector’s research (the owner of the only other example of this coin I’ve found online), the coin can be considered a “mule” – a coin who’s sides were never meant to match up.

The River God is depicted leaning on an urn inscribed with the word “Clyde”, which is the name of a river in Scotland that runs through Glasgow. This coin face usually appears as the reverse side of a coin where the obverse face depicts the Arms of Glasgow with the text: “Let Glasgow Flourish”

British Hong Kong – 5 Cent Coin

Country or Region: Hong Kong

Year: 1949

Created from: 1949-1950

Value: 5 Cents

Weight: 2.5 grams

Diameter: 16.5 mm

Composition: Nickel-Brass

Estimated Modern Value: <$1.00 CAD

Obverse:

HONG KONG


仙 • 五

FIVE CENTS 1949

 

Translation:

Hong Kong

Five Cents

 

Reverse

KING GEORGE THE SIXTH

 

History of the Hong Kong Dollar (HK$)

Upon the establishment of a free trading port in Hong Kong in 1841, there was no local currency used in daily circulation. Instead, Hong Kong was saturated with foreign currencies, including Indian rupees, Spanish and Mexican Reales, Chinese cash coins, and British currency. In the year 1942, the British assumed control over the city and immediately the colonial government and intended to appoint the Pound Sterling as the offical Hong Kong currency.

However, t wasn’t until twelve years later, in 1863, that a special Hong Kong currency was issued. These coins, which bore the portrait of the reigning British Monarach, were produced by the Royal Mint in London. They included the silver 10 cent, bronze 1 cent, and 1 mil (1/10 of a cent). Although they were not accepted for government payments, foreign currency continued to circulate among the new local coins, leading to a complex currency system.

In 1866 the Hong Kong Mint was established, but promptly shut down only two years later. It wasn’t until 1935, after the rising price of silver prompted China officially abandoned the silver standard in 1934, the Hong Kong Government followed suit and finally declared the Hong Kong Dollar to be the offical local monetary unit – although it wasn’t properly unified until 1937.

After these changes were in place, 6 different coins were made available for general circulation. These include 5, 2, and 1 dollar coins along with 50, 20, and 10 cent coins.

The offical currency in Hong Kong was changed again from 1941-1945 during the Japanese occupation. This period saw the Japanese Military Yen (JMY) become the only legal currency for daily exchange. After WWII, however, when Hong Kong regained control the JMY became obsolete.

China and Britain eventually signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a document which oversaw the British Dependancy of Hong Kong return to Chinese rule in 1997.

 

5 Cent Coin – Dao Ling (斗令)

First issued in silver in 1866, the composition of the 5 cent coin didn’t change until after China and Hong Kong abandoned the silver standard in 1935, after which it was minted with a combination of copper and nickel. Only 2 years later, however, this coin was again replaced with a pure nickel coin in 1937 which remained in mint until 1941 when the Japanese occupation began.

Upon the reintroduction of the 5 cent coin in 1949, its composition was changed again to a mixture of nickel and brass. The coin remained as offical currency until 1989, when it was demonitized.

The coin belonging to this collection on of the the 15 million 5 cent coins minted during the year 1949.

 

References

https://hk.history.museum/en_US/web/mh/publications/spa_pspecial_02_01.html

https://www.advfn.com/currencies/hkd/about/HongKongDollar.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_five-cent_coin

https://gwulo.com/node/10164

http://www.hkartclub.com/coin/hkcoin/hkcoinhisteng.html