3 Pence - George VI

South Africa's threepence series under George VI ran through the war years when silver supplies were under genuine pressure — Britain and its dominions were quietly reducing fineness across small denomination coinage to conserve metal for the war effort, yet the South African threepence held its .800 fineness throughout this entire run rather than dropping to the lower standards adopted elsewhere in the sterling area.

The series spans the 1937 coronation year through 1947, the last full year before South Africa's coinage underwent significant compositional revision. Individual dates within the Hern reference range carry meaningfully different mintages — the 1942 and 1943 issues were struck in the largest numbers, driven by wartime pay requirements for troops stationed across southern and eastern Africa.