What are some old crown colonies?

As we all know, Australia, Canada, Bermuda, etc all has coins with the king or queens effigy on it.

I do have books and what not that go back to the mid 1800s, but I was wondering what countries existed between 1600-1850 that were under British rule and had coins minted?

 

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I think India was one of them. They didn't get independence until Gandhi started his protests.

 

Hong Gong China was another.

 

Hong Kong? Also I don't think The crown controlled China in fact I don't think any nation has ever controlled china since the mongolian invasions.

 

Much of the British colonial pieces prior to 1850 were counterstamps on previously minted coins.

 

I've always wanted a CS'ed George III 8 reales, but man..they are not cheap!

 

^ that one is a contemporary counterfeit and is highly collectible in its own right.

 

Very few British Empire possessions had coinage featuring royal effigies prior to the reign of Victoria (1837-1901). Off the top of my head I can think of only Ceylon, Essequibo & Demerary, and Ireland (although there may be others I'm forgetting).

 

I always thought irish coingage was it own thing?

 

There are British coins in some unlikely places. They don't necessarily have the monarch on them, but the British had coins for Malta, Cyprus, the Isle of Man, the Ionian Islands, Guyana. The British controlled Mauritius and I think King George VI was on their coins.

 

Prior to the 20th century, Ireland spent a good deal of its history under British rule, and Irish colonial coinage was minted, although on an inconsistent basis.

 

By my count, Britain issued colonial coinage for 44 possessions, although not always with the monarch's effigy, as you note. In some cases, only the name of the monarch appeared on the coin.

I'm not aware of any British colonial coinage for Malta. Do you have a link?

 

None struck in Malta, but there were British coins struck for use in Malta until 1913. The 1/3 farthing in particular. They were strictly British designs with nothing on them to indicate Malta.

 

Thanks. That must be why they never came up on my empire radar.

 

Although no effigy, just the wording, is the often forgotten British West Indies Anchor Money series.

 

Yes, and if I'm not mistaken, I believe it's the only pre-Victorian British Empire coin with a monarch's name and no effigy.

Edit: would love to add one of those to my collection.

 

Virginia had halfpennies minted in 1773 with King George III on them. They are the only authorised colony specific coinage minted for the Americas, the Rosa Americana pieces were a general issue that was not popular in the colonies. The nice thing about the 1773 1/2d is that a keg of them was found in the 19th century and it is possible to collect mint red examples of them as a result.

 

I actually have one from said keg, but unfortunately mine didn't fare as well lost luster on about half the coin and some corrosion.

 

Here's one people don't think about often: Gibraltar.

 

Here's my two Ionian Islands coin. They don't say the monarch's name but they do say Britannia.