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The British North Borneo Company had the right to produce coin under its Royal Charter, granted in 1881. It had 1 cent coins struck in England from 1882 and 1/2 cent pieces from 1885. These coins were linked to the silver dollar as used in the Straits Settlement and Hong Kong.
Although there was another production of this denomination made in 1907, the 1891 issue of half cents seems to have been the last to have seen widespread circulation. In 1903-1904 the Company moved from the use of bronze to copper-nickel, issuing 1 cent and new denominations of 2 1/2 cents and 5 cent in that metal; the 1/2 cent was not continued. |
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| Obverse | |
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Shield of Arms of the British North Borneo Chartered Company; within the shield, a lion above a dhow (native boat) with sails; below, the date 1887; the mint mark (H for The Mint Birmingham Limited, known as Ralph Heaton and Sons Limited before 1879), above the date. |
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| Reverse | |
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Within a wreath of olive branches, HALF CENT; above and below the denomination it is repeated vertically in Chinese characters: 洋元半分 ("yang yuan pan fen", or "foreign dollar half cent"); below the wreath the denomination in Malay ("tengah sen", of "half cent" in Jawi script); around above, BRITISH NORTH BORNEO Co. |
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| Reverse Inscription |
BRITISH NORTH BORNEO Co. HALF CENT 洋元半分 |
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| Edge | Plain | Edge Inscription | None |
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