Cyprus ½ piastre 1943 - George VI

The coin's story

From 1878 to 1960, Cyprus was administered by the United Kingdom, first under Ottoman sovereignty and then as a Crown colony from 1925. Its currency kept the piastre inherited from the Ottoman Empire: 9 piastres were worth one shilling and 180 one Cyprus pound. This small ½ piastre coin, with a scalloped edge of 12 lobes, bears the crowned head of George VI by Percy Metcalfe, signed PM below the neck. During the Second World War, nickel was reserved for the war effort: from 1942 to 1945, the ½ piastre was struck in bronze instead of cupronickel. In 1943, the Royal Mint struck 1,620,000 pieces. The piastre disappeared in 1955, when Cyprus adopted the decimal system in mils.