1 Penny - George V

Southern Rhodesia gained the right to issue its own coinage in 1932, when the British South Africa Company's administrative role finally gave way to full responsible government. The penny series was struck at the Royal Mint and its branches — the 1934–1936 dates appearing during a period when the colony's tobacco economy was recovering unevenly from the Depression, keeping hard currency scarce in rural circulation.

Copper-nickel was chosen over bronze partly to distinguish Rhodesian coinage from the surrounding British African territories, most of which retained bronze for their lower denominations.