Catalog
3 Pence - George V
| Issuer | British West Africa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920-1936 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1.41 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | 1920 KN - - 19,000,000 1920 KN - KN on Obverse under bust - 1 1920 KN - Proof - 1925 - - 8,800,000 1926 - - 1,600,000 1927 - - 800,000 1928 - - 1,760,000 1928 - Proof - 1933 - - 2,800,000 1933 - Proof - 1934 - - 6,400,000 1934 - Proof - 1935 - - 11,560,000 1935 - Proof - 1936 - - 17,160,000 1936 - Proof - 1936 H - - 1,000,000 1936 H - Proof - 1936 KN - - 2,037,999 |
| Additional information |
British West Africa had no unified coinage infrastructure of its own — these pieces were struck in Birmingham, primarily at the Heaton Mint and the King's Norton Metal Company, under contract to the West African Currency Board established in 1912. The Board was a deliberate instrument of monetary control, designed to keep West African territories financially tethered to sterling while preventing the circulation of foreign silver that had long complicated trade along the coast.
The tin-brass composition was chosen specifically for its resistance to tropical corrosion, a persistent problem that had degraded earlier cupro-nickel issues faster than anticipated in the humidity of the Gulf of Guinea littoral.