One Dollar 1925, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

Surrounded by an "Oriental"-style border with a "key" pattern, the obverse of the coin shows the standing figure of Britannia - the female personification of Great Britain, holding a trident in one hand and balancing a shield with the British Union Jack flag in the other, her cloak billowing in the wind behind. She wears a crested Corinthian helmet pushed back to reveal her face.

Britannia is standing on a sea shore, with a merchant ship under full sail in the background.

Around left and right, the value of the coin: · ONE DOLLAR ·. In the field beneath Britannia's bare feet, the date of issue: 1925.

There is no mint mark.

Surrounded by an "Oriental"-style border with a "key" pattern, the reverse of the coin depicts a scroll design divided into four compartments containing, in the upper and lower, the Chinese characters 壹 圓 (transcribed as "yat yuen" or "yi yuan"), and in the left and right compartment ساتو رڠڬية - transcribed as "satu ringgit" from Jawi (Malay language written in a modified Arabic script). Both inscriptions are translated as "one dollar".

At centre, the Chinese labyrinth symbol representing longevity.

The Royal Mint annual reports show the following mintages for this coin:
1925: 2,000,000
1926: 177,885
1929: 4,691,968
the sum of which is 6,869,853. All of these coins were struck with dies bearing the date 1925; the dies were only updated to reflect the actual year of striking in 1930; some coins struck in 1930 also have the date 1925.

Kavanagh quotes the relevant extract from the 60th Annual Report of the Royal Mint:
"Very large orders for British Dollars were received during the year and contracts running far into 1930 were on hand at the close of the year. The earliest consignments were struck with the punches prepared for coinage executed in 1925, but later in the year a new reverse date 1930 was brought in to use."

References to additional information:

[Book] Kavanagh, Kevin. 1969. The Coins of Malaysia, 1845-1967, including Straits Settlements, Malaya, British North Borneo, Sarawak, Brunei, Singapore, British Trade Dollars. Adelaide, Australia. pp83-87
[Book] Remick, Jerome. 1971. The Guide Book and Catalogue to British Commonwealth Coins., pp85-87