Unknown British Commonwealth coin SOLVED

[nebstater]

Was out the other day, and came across a couple of "holed" foreign coins, that at one time were probably on a belt or a bracelet or some other item as they were both "double" holed. The one I could identify as a 1955 South African half dollar. My problem comes from the other coin. All I have been able to ascertain is that it's a British Commonwealth coin, which I can't make out a complete date on. The back is almost worn smooth, so that did not give me much help. I don't even know what the denomination of this coin is. The front of the coin, bears the same design as the British 1912 gold Sovereign coin. I'm guessing that it was probably another coin that was used in West Africa, but I don't know for sure. I tried finding it on the net, but was not successful. Hopefully, one of you can give me some help.

Thanks for your time.

 

[ivan salis]

Re: Unknown British Commonwealth coin

well it has to be from 1910 to 1936 as king george the V's reign ended when he died in 1936.
it looks like its copper -- if so theres farthing --half penny and penny to choose from--those were all common copper british coins of that time frame made of copper. ---the half penny and penny are a bit larger sized type coins --with the farthing a bit smaller in size.

 

[CRUSADER]

Re: Unknown British Commonwealth coin

British Farthing 1911-36. You maybe able to see the date under Britannia. (I think I see a 2, so 1912, 1922, 1932)

Normally its the silver 3 pences that were holed like this to make bracelets. Strange someone did it in copper. (poor womens version)

 

[nebstater]

Re: Unknown British Commonwealth coin

Thanks guys for the help. The date on the back, as best as I can make out with a magnifying glass is 19 ? 2. I think that it says 1932, but I'm just not sure. At least, I now know that it's a Farthing, and I can add that to my info on the piece.

Thank you very much for your help.

 

[pgill]

Definately not South African, we never had dollars or George on our coins. It definately looks British to me but nice find. Those holes look like half holes, I wonder how they made them?

God bless
Peter [South Africa]

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Definately not South African, we never had dollars or George on our coins. It definately looks British to me but nice find. Those holes look like half holes, I wonder how they made them?

God bless
Peter [South Africa]

Looks like machine punched out for jewelry.

 

[CRUSADER]

Definately not South African, we never had dollars or George on our coins. It definately looks British to me but nice find. Those holes look like half holes, I wonder how they made them?

God bless
Peter [South Africa]

Looks like machine punched out for jewelry.

yeah, a bracelet.

 

[nebstater]

Definately not South African, we never had dollars or George on our coins. It definately looks British to me but nice find. Those holes look like half holes, I wonder how they made them?

God bless
Peter [South Africa]

Looks like machine punched out for jewelry.

yeah, a bracelet.

I agree that it was probably off of a piece of jewelry. I found a 1955 South African half dollar on the same field, and it was punched out the same way as this coin was. I didn't know if it was a bracelet, belt, or coins that were attached to a vest or some other type of clothing. The 2 coins that I found were both the very same size.

 

[pgill]

Not South African I also do not know a country that would use copper for a half dollar, might be wrong on that one but useually better material is used on the higher currency.

God bless
Peter [South Africa]

 

[nebstater]

Not South African I also do not know a country that would use copper for a half dollar, might be wrong on that one but useually better material is used on the higher currency.

God bless
Peter [South Africa]

I know that this coin is NOT a half dollar. The other coin that I found was a half dollar coin dated 1955 and it said South Africa on the coin. This coin was issued in, I think, 1932 and was issued by the British Commonwealth. It has tentatively been identifed as a Farthing, or maybe a penny as it appears to be copper underneath the silver coating. Early on South Africa's history, I believe that the country was a member of the British Commonwealth. I don't live there, and never have, but I believe that is what I read when I was researching the coin.

 

[CRUSADER]

As a Farthing it should be close to 20mm, a penny is much bigger.

 

[Smithbrown]

And the farthing does not have Britannia, it has a wren, which your example does seem to have.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3396/3326863576_2738ce6e23_m.jpg

Smithbrown

 

[pgill]

nebstater, sorry to have annoyed you, but I was just trying to say, as was said that a half dollar was found, and that South Africa does or did not have half dollars.
You are correct in saying that South Africa was part of the British Commonwealth many years ago, that was the time South Africa was known as "The union of South Africa" and at that time the currency was pounds and shillings, pennies, and crowns.... There was a half crown at that time that was silver. South Africa basically followed Britain in the denominations of currency that they used.
I am not trying to say that you or anybody else does not know what they are talking about, I was just trying to clear up what sort of currency that found coin was, and to say that it was not South African.

I have placed a pic of a South African 1955 half crown so that you can look at your 1955 coin to see if it is the same as this.



Again sorry if I got you cross, not my intentions

God bless
Peter

 

[pgill]

nebstater, I just checked and found that we did indeed have George on coins up to 1947, then it went to QE2 untill it became "The republic of South Africa". It was for a very short period of time. The main players on our currency being "Thomas Francois Burgers", "Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger", "King George", "QE2", "Van Riebeck", "P W De Klerk", and of course as a special "Mandella" in that order.

Happy Hunting, God bless
Peter

 

[nebstater]

nebstater, I just checked and found that we did indeed have George on coins up to 1947, then it went to QE2 untill it became "The republic of South Africa". It was for a very short period of time. The main players on our currency being "Thomas Francois Burgers", "Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger", "King George", "QE2", "Van Riebeck", "P W De Klerk", and of course as a special "Mandella" in that order.

Happy Hunting, God bless
Peter

No, you didn't annoy me any. I just know what I read on the back of the other coin that I found. I'll post pictures of both sides of it, and you can clearly see that it says South Africa and the date of 1955. Since I found both coins in the same field, and they were both punched out the same way, I just figured that they were both from or used in South Africa. Either way, they are both a long ways from home. You will notice, that this coin wasn't worn almost smooth on the back.

 

[nebstater]

And the farthing does not have Britannia, it has a wren, which your example does seem to have.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3396/3326863576_2738ce6e23_m.jpg

Smithbrown

I believe that you are correct on your identification. I just think that when they were making the coins into jewelry, that they painted or plated them with a silver color, and that after being in the ground or being worn, started wearing the silver color off.

 

[nebstater]

nebstater, sorry to have annoyed you, but I was just trying to say, as was said that a half dollar was found, and that South Africa does or did not have half dollars.
You are correct in saying that South Africa was part of the British Commonwealth many years ago, that was the time South Africa was known as "The union of South Africa" and at that time the currency was pounds and shillings, pennies, and crowns.... There was a half crown at that time that was silver. South Africa basically followed Britain in the denominations of currency that they used.
I am not trying to say that you or anybody else does not know what they are talking about, I was just trying to clear up what sort of currency that found coin was, and to say that it was not South African.

I have placed a pic of a South African 1955 half crown so that you can look at your 1955 coin to see if it is the same as this.




Again sorry if I got you cross, not my intentions

God bless
Peter

The front of my coin looks like yours, but the back has a ship on it and for value it appears to say 1/2 (small P). For all I know, maybe these were just fake coins made for the jewelry market. Thanks for your input.

 

[pgill]

Hi nebstater, Thanks for the reply..... glad to know that you are not cross with me we can drink some more now

Thanks for the pic..... the coin you have there is the 1/2 penny. There were 3,774,249 of them made and sell for around 50 cents South African. Some of these coins were made of brass, so maybe yours is also They are a very nice collectors coin though as they are nice to look at even though not worth much.

God bless
Peter

 

[nebstater]

Hi nebstater, Thanks for the reply..... glad to know that you are not cross with me we can drink some more now

Thanks for the pic..... the coin you have there is the 1/2 penny. There were 3,774,249 of them made and sell for around 50 cents South African. Some of these coins were made of brass, so maybe yours is also They are a very nice collectors coin though as they are nice to look at even though not worth much.

God bless
Peter

Thanks for the update on the value of the coin. I will make the appropriate changes in my records. Thanks for sharing.

 

[pgill]

Just looked through my coins.... here are a couple of pics to show some differences etc. enjoy them.






God bless
Peter