Catalog
2 Shillings - George V Obverse Trial
| Issuer | British West Africa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Left-facing effigy of King George V, crowned and robed, with finely detailed imperial state crown and ermine-trimmed mantle visible at the truncation. The portrait, modelled by Edgar Bertram MacKennal, displays the king in right profile with beard and prominent facial features characteristic of the first coinage type. The surrounding legend reads GEORGIVS V D. G. BRITT: OMN: REX F. D. IND: IMP: in raised Latin letters, separated by raised dots, running along the inner border of the milled rim. |
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| Mintage | 1920: ND (1920) |
| Additional information |
Trial pieces for British West Africa coinage were produced under contract by the Royal Mint and, from 1912 onward, by the Birmingham-based Heaton Mint and later by the Kings Norton Metal Company. This tin brass composition suggests an experimental alloy test rather than a production-approved strike — the West African Currency Board was perpetually wrestling with which alloys could survive the humidity and handling conditions of tropical circulation without rapid corrosion or discoloration.
1920 sits at a point of post-WWI metals reallocation, when base metal supplies were being reassessed across all colonial currency contracts.