Cyprus 25 mils 1955 - Bull's head

Cyprus · 1955 · 25 mils

Circulating coinCommonVF · Very fine

€2.50estimate in VF

2,500,000coins minted

N8137 KM35 SCHÖN30

JSReference number JSJS-FN6YP

Circulating coin

25 mils coin of Cyprus under Elizabeth II, first decimal series (1955)

The coin's story

From 1878 to 1960, Cyprus was administered by the United Kingdom, as a Crown colony from 1925. In 1955, the island abandoned the piastre inherited from the Ottoman Empire and adopted the decimal system: the Cyprus pound was now divided into 1,000 mils. The 25 mils coin, in cupronickel, is part of this first series struck by the Royal Mint in London. Its reverse, engraved by William Maving Gardner, shows a bull's head above the value. The obverse bears the crowned portrait of the young Queen Elizabeth II, engraved by Cecil Thomas. The coin was struck only in 1955, in 2,500,000 pieces, plus 2,000 proofs. The Republic of Cyprus, independent in 1960, replaced these coins with its own in 1963.

ObverseThe Portrait of the Queen

QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND

Design: Crowned bust of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, by Cecil Thomas.
Legend: QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND around.

CTEngraved by Cecil Thomas

ReverseThe Bull's Head

GOVERNMENT OF CYPRUS · TWENTY FIVE MILS25· 1955 ·

Design: A bull's head seen from the front, surrounded by a beaded circle, with a branch on the left.
Denomination: The number 25 below the head and the value TWENTY FIVE MILS in the legend.
Legend: GOVERNMENT OF CYPRUS at the top.
Date: The date 1955 at the bottom, between two dots.

WGEngraved by William Maving Gardner