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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. The British West African Pound was equal to the (pre-decimal) Pound Sterling and was similarly subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. Unlike its Imperial counterpart though, the British West African Pound - uniquely among British colonies - also had a denomination worth one tenth of a penny - due to the low standard of living in the African colonies, where people had considerably less money than people elsewhere. The denomination was worth 1/2,400th of a pound (i.e., 2,400 of these coins made one pound). This one year type is one of the few coins issued worldwide in the name of King Edward VIII, who abdicated before the end of the year. 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. Thus, 1/10 penny coins issued in 1936 would have circulated for up to 32 years depending on location. | ||||||||||||
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Royal Mint |
Variety | Proof (Royal Mint) | |
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Mintage | Issued: unknown | |
Variety | Proof (Birmingham Mint) | |
Mintage | Issued: unknown | |
Variety | Proof (King's Norton Metal Co.) | |
Mintage | Issued: unknown |
Source | Edition | About | Link | Notes |
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Museums Victoria Collections | 2016 | Coin description | link | |
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins | 1971 | Mint | ||
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins | 1971 | Mintage | ||
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins | 1971 | Varieties | Proof (Royal Mint) | |
Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins | Varieties | Proofs |
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Wild Winds Ancient Coins |
Country | British West Africa |
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Currency | British West African Pound |
Coin Type | One-tenth Penny (CuproNickel, Edward VIII) |
Issued | 1936 |
Monarch | King Edward VIII |
Effigy | Imperial Crown - St Edward's Crown and the Tudor Crown |
Reverse | Imperial Crown - St Edward's Crown and the Tudor Crown |
Face Value | 1/10 (x Penny) |
Total Mintage | 10,284,000 (10.3 million) |
Current | No; demonetised 1968 |
Material | CuproNickel |
Technology | Milled (machine-made) |
Shape | Round with hole |
Orientation | Medal Alignment (Axis 0) |
Size | 20.0000 mm |
Mass | 1.9000 g |
OCC ID | XYRV-POVR-CJXB-ODQG |
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Buy gold and silver bullion online! |
Image | Details |
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1/10 Penny
Copyright: British Museum / CC BY-NC-SA Notes: Royal Mint (no mint mark). Source |
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Coin - 1/10 Penny, British West Africa, 1936
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Notes: Heaton Mint. Source |
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Coin - 1/10 Penny, British West Africa, 1936
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Notes: King's Norton Metal Co. Source |
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Coin - 1/10 Penny, British West Africa, 1936
Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Jennifer McNair Source |
Source | Reference ID |
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Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins | British West Africa KM# 14 |