Half Cent, Coin Type from Sarawak - detailed information

In 1863 copper 1/4, 1/2 and 1 Cent coins bearing the portrait of Sir James Brooke were struck by the Ralph Heaton & Sons Mint in Birmingham, England. The dies for this coinage as well as the later copper coinage of 1870 were engraved by Joseph Moore.

Coinage bearing the portrait of the second white Rajah, Sir Charles Johnson Brooke, in copper bearing the denomination 1/4, 1/2 and 1 Cent were issued at various dates between 1870 to 1897.

All the coins of Sarawak from 1863 to 1941 were minted at the Ralph Heaton & Sons Mint in Birmingham (known as The Mint Birmingham Limited after 1879). However, the "H" mint mark on the coinage of Sarawak was only introduced in 1889.

During most of its existence, the half cent coin was copper with weight of 72 grains in the measurement units of the time, equal to 4.653 g, and had a diameter of 22.5 mm. The last issue of half cents was in 1933 in bronze, with smaller dimensions: 31.5 grains (2.04 g) and 18 mm.