Cyprus 5 mils 1955 - Copper ingot bearer

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 5 mils coin is part of this first series, struck by the Royal Mint in London. Its reverse, engraved by William Maving Gardner, shows a Bronze Age man carrying a copper bar on his shoulders. The motif recalls that copper has been the wealth of the island since Antiquity, so much so that the metal takes its Latin name, cuprum, from that of Cyprus. The obverse bears the crowned portrait of the young Queen Elizabeth II, engraved by Cecil Thomas. In 1955, 10,000,000 pieces were struck, plus 2,000 proofs, and the coin was struck again in 1956. It is no longer legal tender.