1/2 Cent Pattern

North Borneo in 1878 was barely a functioning state — the British North Borneo Provisional Association had received its royal charter only that year, and the territory's coinage system was entirely unresolved. Pattern pieces from this moment exist because the new administration needed to demonstrate seriousness of commercial intent, both to local traders and to London. Whether this particular piece ever advanced toward a struck circulation issue is unclear; the Singh reference places it firmly in the experimental record, but production quantities were almost certainly negligible.