Catalog
1/10 Penny - Edward VII
| Issuer | British West Africa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1908-1910 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | KM#3 |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A large six-pointed star (hexagram) dominates the field, its two interlocking equilateral triangles framing the central circular perforation. The legend 'NIGERIA BRITISH WEST AFRICA' arcs around the upper periphery between the points of the star, while the date is divided at the lower exergue between two raised pellets, flanking the base of the hexagram. A milled border encircles the entire design. |
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| Mintage | 1908 - - 9,600,000 1909 - - 4,800,000 1910 - - 7,200,000 |
| Additional information |
British West Africa was not a single colony but a collective monetary arrangement covering Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia — a currency union administered by the West African Currency Board, established in 1912. These earlier pieces predate the Board itself, issued instead under direct Crown authority during the transitional period when London was still working out how to unify four separate colonial economies under one coinage.
The 1/10 penny denomination was peculiar to this region, designed to interact with the local cowrie shell economy still functioning in parts of the interior.