Catalog
1/2 Crown - Elizabeth II 1st portrait
| Issuer | Rhodesia and Nyasaland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1955-1957 |
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| Value | 1/2 Crown (1/8) |
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| Obverse description | Right-facing laureate effigy of Queen Elizabeth II after the model by Mary Gillick, depicting the young queen with a wreath of laurel leaves in her hair and a lightly draped truncation. The portrait is rendered in fine relief with delicate detail in the hair and facial features. The circular legend reads +QUEEN·ELIZABETH·THE·SECOND, separated by raised dots, with a small cross at the beginning of the inscription. A beaded border frames the entire design. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | · RHODESIA AND NYASALAND · EIIR MAGNE ESSE MEREAMUR HP HALF CROWN · 1955 |
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| Additional information |
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland existed for only a decade before collapsing under the weight of African nationalist pressure and British reluctance to entrench white minority rule. These half crowns were struck in the federation's earliest years, when the political arrangement still carried enough credibility that London sanctioned a full coinage series. The first portrait of Elizabeth II — Gillick's effigy — had only just entered circulation across the Commonwealth following the 1953 coronation.
The federation was dissolved in 1963. Coins from this short series had fewer than eight years of institutional backing before the issuing authority ceased to exist.