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British West African Colonies.


Spaniard

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The British West African Colonies, 1821-1850 and again 1866-1888, consisted of, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria..
After its final cessation the British West Africa Pound stayed in effect from 1907 through to 1962...

The set I'll be presenting is the year 1947...BWA pound = 20 Shillings.

I'll run the first 3 coins together as they are of a similar ilk..

Obverse- Around the circular central hole Solomon's seal the six-pointed "Star of David" around and above the legend 'BRITISH WEST AFRICA'.
Reverse- An imperial crown above a central circular hole with a scroll ornament to right and left; around and above the legend 'GEORGIVS VI REX ET IND: IMP': (George the Sixth, King and Emperor of India); below the hole the denomination in Arabic; around the circular hole the denomination in English.
The mint mark (H, KN or SA or no mintmark) is between the centre hole and the Arabic inscription....Here's one of my examples a Half penny (H)..

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1/10th Penny..Copper-Nickel..20mm diameter..1.90gr..Edge Plain..KM#20.
Minted at
Royal Mint London (No mintmark) 4,202,000
Kings Norton (Mintmark KN) 3,900,000

1/2 Penny...Copper-Nickel..25.9mm diameter..5.65gr..Edge Plain..KM#18.
Minted at
Kings Norton (Mintmark KN) 12,000,000
Heaton (Mintmark H) 15,218,000

One Penny...Copper-Nickel..30.8mm diameter..9.950gr..Edge Plain..KM#19.
Minted at
Kings Norton (Mintmark KN) 9,829,000
Heaton (Mintmark H) 12,443,000
South Africa Pretoria (Mintmark SA) 58,980,000

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Here's my examples..
1/10 Penny (No mintark) Royal Mint London
1/2 Penny (H)....1/2 Penny (KN)
One Penny (SA)...One Penny (KN)...One Penny (H)

 

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Next coins up are the 1947.. 3 Pence and 6 Pence.
Obverse..Effigy of the ruling British monarch George VI with the initials PM (Engraver Percy Metcalfe) at the truncation of the neck, legend around GEORGIVS VI D · G · BRITT · OMN · REX F · D · IND · IMP:.
Reverse..Within an oak wreath tied with ribbon, the denomination in two lines: 3 PENCE or 6 PENCE; Legend around, BRITISH WEST AFRICA; below the wreath the date. Mintmark (If any) between the wreath and date.

1947 3 Pence..Copper-Nickel..21.45mm diameter..5.1gr..Security Edge..KM#21
Minted at..
Heaton..10,000,000 Mintmark H
Kings Norton..11,248,000 Mintmark KN

1947 6 Pence (1/2 Shilling)..Nickel-Brass..19.5mm diameter..3.5gr..Security Edge..KM#22
Only minted at The Royal Mint London (No Mintmark)..6,120,000

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Here's my examples..
1947 3 Pence H (Heaton and Sons Birmingham)
1947 6 Pence No mintmark ( The Royal Mint London)

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1947 Last 2 coins in the set are..The 1 Shilling and 2 Shillings..

Obverse..Crowned head of King George VI facing left.. The legend around, GEORGIVS VI D · G · BRITT · OMN · REX F · D · IND · IMP: (George the Sixth, by the Grace of God, King of all the Britains, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India); below the neck truncation are the initials PM (Engraver Percy Metcalfe).

Reverse..In the centre, dividing the date 1947, a palm tree with vegetation around the base; around the outside a circle broken by decorative extensions adjacent to the date, BRITISH WEST AFRICA (above) and the denomination TWO SHILLINGS/ONE SHILLING (below).

The mint mark None, H or KN is buried at the base of the palm tree.

1947 One Shilling..Nickel-Brass..23.6mm diameter..5.6gr..Security Edge..KM#23
Minted at..
The Royal Mint London..No mintmark..99,200,000
Heaton and Sons Birmingham..(H Mintmark)..10,000,000
Kings Norton Metal Co..(KN Mintmark)..10,384,000

1947 Two Shilling..Nickel-Brass..28.5mm diameter..11.3gr..Security Edge..KM#24
Minted at..
Heaton and Sons Birmingham..(H Mintmark)..4,758,000
Kings Norton Metal Co..(KN Mintmark)..4,200,000

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Here's my examples..
1947 One Shilling..No mintmark..The Royal Mint London..KM#23
1947 Two Shilling..H Mintmark..Heaton and Sons Birmingham..KM#24

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This is a really nice guide to these coins.

I have just one West African coin. I don’t know why they didn’t get 1/2 and 1/3 farthings like everybody else.

George VI British West Africa Tenth of a Penny, 1952image.jpeg.d942385965d548111bb45a78c3cebabc.jpegTower. Bronze, 20mm, 1.92g. GEORGIVS SEXTVS REX, ONE TENTH OF A PENNY around central hole. Hexagram divides date at bottom; BRITISH WEST AFRICA (KM 26a).

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1 hour ago, John Conduitt said:

This is a really nice guide to these coins

Thanks John....I tried to keep it as simple as possible to try and help future young collectors but hopefully will also allow more experienced collectors to fine tune their own examples....I've left the title open as I will add others in the future . Btw Very nice coin.

Edited by Spaniard
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