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The British West African Pound was the currency of British West Africa, a group of British colonies, protectorates and mandate territories - Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana (originally Gold Coast) and Gambia. From 1907 till 1911 the reverse of the coins showed the legend NIGERIA BRITISH WEST AFRICA, then from 1912 the word NIGERIA was discontinued. The British West African Pound was equal to the (pre-decimal) Pound Sterling and was similarly subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. In other words, the penny was thus equal to 1/12th of a shilling or 1/240th of a pound (i.e., 240 of these coins made one pound). Unlike its Imperial counterpart - the British Penny - the British West African Penny had a central hole which made the two coins incompatible; this was done to make sure that colonial money does not get exported to Great Britain to be used there, leaving the colonies with no cash. There were two types issued: After decolonisation, the coins were replaced by the various new countries as they introduced their own independent currencies: In some places, British West African coins circulated in parallel with the new coinage until 1968. | ||||
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Royal Mint |
Coin Name | Reverse | Obverse | Details |
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One Penny 1907 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 862,848 |
One Penny 1908 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 3,217,152 |
One Penny 1909 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 960,000 |
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One Penny 1910 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 2,520,000 |
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One Penny 1911 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mint: Birmingham Mint Mintage: 1,920,000 |
One Penny 1912 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Birmingham Mint Mintage: 1,560,000 |
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One Penny 1913 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mints: - Royal Mint: 1,680,000 - Birmingham Mint: 144,000 Total Mintage: 1,824,000 |
One Penny 1914 |
Material: CuproNickel Mints: - Royal Mint: 3,000,000 - Birmingham Mint: 14,000 Total Mintage: 3,014,000 |
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One Penny 1915 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Birmingham Mint Mintage: 3,295,200 |
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One Penny 1916 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Birmingham Mint Mintage: 3,460,800 |
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One Penny 1917 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Birmingham Mint Mintage: 444,000 |
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One Penny 1918 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mint: Birmingham Mint Mintage: 993,600 |
One Penny 1919 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mints: - Birmingham Mint: 21,864,000 - King's Norton Metal Co.: 264,300 Total Mintage: 22,128,300 |
One Penny 1920 |
Material: CuproNickel Mints: - Birmingham Mint: 37,869,600 - King's Norton Metal Co.: 20,685,000 Total Mintage: 58,554,600 |
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One Penny 1922 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: King's Norton Metal Co. Mintage: 3,970,560 |
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One Penny 1926 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 8,040,000 |
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One Penny 1927 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 792,000 |
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One Penny 1928 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 6,672,000 |
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One Penny 1929 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 636,000 |
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One Penny 1933 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 2,805,600 |
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One Penny 1934 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 2,640,000 |
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One Penny 1935 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 8,551,200 |
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One Penny 1936 George V |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 7,368,000 |
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One Penny 1936 Edward VIII | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mints: - Birmingham Mint: 12,600,000 - King's Norton Metal Co.: 12,512,000 - Royal Mint: 7,992,000 Total Mintage: 33,104,000 |
One Penny 1937 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mints: - King's Norton Metal Co.: 11,999,400 - Birmingham Mint: 6,112,000 Total Mintage: 18,111,400 |
One Penny 1940 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mints: - Royal Mint: 3,840,000 - Birmingham Mint: 2,400,000 - King's Norton Metal Co.: 2,400,000 Total Mintage: 8,640,000 |
One Penny 1941 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 6,960,000 |
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One Penny 1942 |
Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 18,840,000 |
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One Penny 1943 |
Material: CuproNickel Mints: - Royal Mint: 28,920,000 - Birmingham Mint: 7,200,000 Total Mintage: 36,120,000 |
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One Penny 1944 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mint: Royal Mint Mintage: 19,440,000 |
One Penny 1945 |
Material: CuproNickel Mints: - King's Norton Metal Co.: 9,556,800 - Birmingham Mint: 9,000,000 - Royal Mint: 6,072,000 Total Mintage: 24,628,800 |
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One Penny 1946 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mints: - King's Norton Metal Co.: 11,976,000 - Birmingham Mint: 10,446,000 - Pretoria Mint: 1,020,000 Total Mintage: 23,442,000 |
One Penny 1947 | ![]() |
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Material: CuproNickel Mints: - South African Mint: 58,980,000 - Birmingham Mint: 12,442,720 - King's Norton Metal Co.: 9,829,300 Total Mintage: 81,252,020 |
One Penny 1951 |
Material: CuproNickel Mints: - King's Norton Metal Co.: 2,692,300 - Royal Mint: 1,257,600 Total Mintage: 3,949,900 |
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One Penny 1952 | ![]() |
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Material: Bronze Mints: - Birmingham Mint: 45,398,400 - King's Norton Metal Co.: 30,794,400 - Royal Mint: 10,542,000 Total Mintage: 86,734,800 |
One Penny 1956 |
Material: Bronze Mints: - Birmingham Mint: 13,503,200 - King's Norton Metal Co.: 13,499,600 Total Mintage: 27,002,800 |
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One Penny 1957 |
Material: Bronze Mints: - Royal Mint: 9,000,000 - King's Norton Metal Co.: 5,600,000 - Birmingham Mint: 5,340,000 Total Mintage: 19,940,000 |
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One Penny 1958 |
Material: Bronze Mints: - King's Norton Metal Co.: unknown - Royal Mint: unknown Total Mintage: 12,200,000 |
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The Definitive Guide to Australian Silver Coins |
Country | British West Africa |
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Currency | British West African Pound |
Sub-types |
One Penny, CuproNickel One Penny, Bronze |
From | 1907 |
To | 1958 |
Face Value | 1 (x Penny) |
Current | No (demonetised 1968) |
Material | |
Designer | |
Technology | Milled (machine-made) |
Shape | Round with hole |
Orientation | Medal Alignment (Axis 0) |
Size | |
Mass |
Image | Details |
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Coin - 1 Penny, British West Africa, 1908
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Notes: King Edward VII (1907 - 1910). Source |
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Coin - 1 Penny, British West Africa, 1913
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Notes: King George V (1911 - 1936). Source |
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Coin - 1 Penny, British West Africa, 1936
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Notes: King Edward VIII (1936). Source |
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Coin - 1 Penny, British West Africa, 1947
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Notes: King George VI, Emperor of India (1937 - 1947). Source |
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Proof Coin - 1 Penny, British West Africa, 1952
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Notes: King George VI, in bronze (1952). Source |
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Coin - 1 Penny, British West Africa, 1908
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Notes: NIGERIA - BRITISH WEST AFRICA (1907 - 1911). Source |
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Coin - 1 Penny, British West Africa, 1913
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Notes: BRITISH WEST AFRICA , in CuproNickel (1912 - 1951). Source |
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Proof Coin - 1 Penny, British West Africa, 1952
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Notes: Bronze (1952 - 1958). Source |