1 Shilling - George V Suid Afrika, Pattern

South Africa's shift from silver to copper-nickel for subsidiary coinage was debated through much of the early 1930s as silver prices fluctuated and the Union government weighed production costs against public resistance to base-metal coins. This 1934 pattern was part of that exploratory process — struck to test both striking characteristics and public reaction, never approved for circulation. Hern U38 documents it as an official pattern issue, not a private or speculative piece.

The silver shilling remained in production. This copper-nickel trial did not advance further.