10 Cents - George V

Ceylon's small silver fractionals of this period were struck at the Royal Mint in London, part of a broader Colonial Office arrangement that kept currency production centralized rather than in the hands of local administration. The .800 fineness — rather than the .925 sterling standard — reflected a deliberate policy applied to colonial subsidiary coinage to reduce bullion costs while maintaining the appearance of silver currency. When silver prices spiked during and after the First World War, even these reduced-fineness pieces became economically problematic, which effectively ended the series by 1917.