James Brooke acquired Sarawak in 1841 through a combination of military assistance to the Sultan of Brunei and calculated diplomacy — a private individual who became the ruler of a sovereign territory. These coins were struck in Birmingham, as the Birmingham Mint handled virtually all of Sarawak's coinage requirements throughout the Brooke dynasty's reign. The bronze-plated copper composition of this particular issue, rather than solid bronze, is the distinguishing characteristic that separates KM#3a from its parent type, and surviving examples frequently show plating separation at the edges.
James Brooke acquired Sarawak in 1841 through a combination of military assistance to the Sultan of Brunei and calculated diplomacy — a private individual who became the ruler of a sovereign territory. These coins were struck in Birmingham, as the Birmingham Mint handled virtually all of Sarawak's coinage requirements throughout the Brooke dynasty's reign. The bronze-plated copper composition of this particular issue, rather than solid bronze, is the distinguishing characteristic that separates KM#3a from its parent type, and surviving examples frequently show plating separation at the edges.