Catalog
2 Shillings - George VI
| Issuer | British West Africa |
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| Year | 1949-1952 |
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| Currency | Pound (1907-1968) |
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| Obverse description | Crowned effigy of King George VI facing left, wearing the Imperial State Crown, engraved in high relief by Percy Metcalfe. The portrait is unrobed and truncated at the neck, rendered in a naturalistic style. The initials 'PM' appear on the truncation. The surrounding legend reads '+ GEORGIVS VI DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF:' in Latin, distributed around the full circumference. The coin's field is smooth, and the design is bordered by a continuous milled rim. |
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| Obverse lettering | + GEORGIVS VI DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF: |
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| Additional information |
British West Africa was never a single colony but a monetary union covering Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and Gambia — administered through the West African Currency Board, established in 1912 specifically to manage a shared coinage independent of the standard British series. The nickel brass composition adopted postwar replaced the earlier cupro-nickel, partly in response to metal supply pressures following the Second World War.
These later George VI issues are distinguished from earlier strikings by the omission of "IND:IMP" from the legend, reflecting Indian independence in 1947.