Half Cent 1891, Coin from North Borneo

Half Cent 1891, Coin from North Borneo (demonetised 1953)

Coin	Half Cent 1891

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, this 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.

Mint	Heaton and Sons (Birmingham Mint)	Mint Mark	Letter H	Total Mintage	2,000,000 (2.0 million)

Obverse
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 1891; the mint mark (H for The Mint Birmingham Limited, known as Ralph Heaton and Sons Limited before 1879), above the date.

Obverse Inscription	1891

Reverse
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.

Reverse Inscription	BRITISH NORTH BORNEO Co. HALF CENT 洋元半分

Edge	Plain	Edge Inscription	None

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Royal Mint

Half Cent 1891: Known varieties

Variety	Proof
Mintage	Issued: unknown

Half Cent 1891: References to Information Used

Source	Edition	About	Link	Notes
Encyclopaedia of the Coins of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei	1986	Coin description
Museums Victoria Collections	2016	Coin description	link
The Coins of Malaysia	1969	Mint
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins	1971	Mint
The Coins of Malaysia	1969	Mintage
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins	1971	Mintage
Remick, Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins	1971	Varieties		Proof

All (5) coins of type: Half Cent

Coin Name	Mintage	Legend
Half Cent 1885	1,000,000	1885
Half Cent 1886	1,000,000	1886
Half Cent 1887	5,000,000	1887
Half Cent 1891	2,000,000	1891
Half Cent 1907	1,000,000	1907

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Half Cent 1891: Details

Country	North Borneo
Currency	British North Borneo Dollar
Coin Type	Half Cent
Issued	1891
Face Value	1/2 (x Cent)
Total Mintage	2,000,000 (2.0 million)
Current	No; demonetised 1953
Material	Copper
Technology	Milled (machine-made)
Shape	Round
Size	23.5000 mm
Mass	4.6600 g
OCC ID	JPMV-ROAP-CQXJ-ENQG

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Half Cent 1891: Photos

Image	Details
	Coin - 1/2 Cent, British North Borneo Company, 1891 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Heath Warwick Source
	Coin - 1/2 Cent, British North Borneo Company, 1891 Copyright: Museums Victoria / CC BY Author: Heath Warwick Source
	British North Borneo 1891-H 1/2 cent Copyright: CoinFactsWiki / CC BY-SA Author: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles Source
	British North Borneo 1891-H 1/2 cent Copyright: CoinFactsWiki / CC BY-SA Author: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles Source
	British North Borneo 1891 1/2 Cent Copyright: smarty_marty24 Source
	British North Borneo 1891 1/2 Cent Copyright: smarty_marty24 Source

Half Cent 1891: Catalogue Reference IDs

Source	Reference ID
Encyclopaedia of the Coins of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei	British North Borneo SS 6
Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins	British North Borneo KM# 1

Relevant Links

Museums Victoria: Coin - 1/2 Cent, British North Borneo Company, 1891

Half Cent 1891, Coin from North Borneo - detailed information