By 1968, Rhodesia had been operating under the Unilateral Declaration of Independence for three years, with United Nations sanctions cutting off the territory from normal international commerce — including the routine business of sourcing coinage. Pattern strikes from this period were part of an internal effort to develop a workable decimal currency ahead of the formal switch that arrived with the 1970 republic declaration. This brass threepence was one of several alloy trials; the production series ultimately went in a different direction.
By 1968, Rhodesia had been operating under the Unilateral Declaration of Independence for three years, with United Nations sanctions cutting off the territory from normal international commerce — including the routine business of sourcing coinage. Pattern strikes from this period were part of an internal effort to develop a workable decimal currency ahead of the formal switch that arrived with the 1970 republic declaration. This brass threepence was one of several alloy trials; the production series ultimately went in a different direction.