Catalog
3 Piastres
| Issuer | Government of Cyprus |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of King George VI, with the original denomination overprinted and crossed out, replaced by a new denomination overprint in English, Greek, and Arabic scripts. The note carries trilingual legends across its face reflecting the colonial administration of Cyprus. The crossed-out original value and superimposed new denomination are the defining characteristics of this wartime provisional issue. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF CYPRUS ΤΡΙΑ ΓΡΟΣΙΑ اوچ غوش ΕΝΑ ΣΕΛΙΝΙ برسلين [Crossed out] ONE SHILLING [Crossed out] THREE PIASTRES (Translation: Three piastres, One Shilling [crossed out]) |
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| Comments |
Cyprus in 1943 was a Crown Colony operating under wartime financial strain, and this 3 Piastres note was part of a low-denomination series introduced to ease small-change shortages — a problem that plagued British colonial territories across the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean as coin metal was diverted to the war effort. The 3 Piastres denomination is peculiar: it didn't survive long into peacetime currency policy, making wartime issues the primary source for collectors.
Bradbury Wilkinson's security printing at this period was notably consistent in paper quality, and examples from this issue are frequently found with pronounced foxing along the margins — a known vulnerability of the stock used across several of their wartime colonial contracts.