Colonial Coins

History Of Colonial Coins :-

From pre-historic times, barter trade was the only known form of exchange worldwide and East Africa in particular.

With the passage of time it was realized that there was need for a clear and more elaborate form of measuring how much an item was worth.

With these in mind, local proto currencies came into being so to help in the process of quantification. These included cowrie shells, salt bars, beads and other items that came in handy and easily available.

As time went by, inter-commerce and long distance trading emerged and eventually was catapulted by the arrival of Arab caravans that established trading patterns and channels from far away foreign lands.

With the trade invasion of the virgin East African lands by the Arabs who mostly were in need of ivory and slaves, there arose a dire need for more technical and elaborate mediums of exchange which could encompass the rising trading levels and volumes.

As a result of the East African proto currencies being highly unknown, the Arabs eventually had an upper hand in introducing their forms of payment and exchange into the local trading channels.

It is worth noting that at these point, Arabs were trading with Europeans by use of world trade currencies that included the American Gold Dollar and Martha Theresa Thalers from Europe specifically Austria.

Since Arabs travelled across massive water bodies from far away foreign and unknown lands, they looked and appeared more superior, sophisticated and obviously knowledgeable.

With all these attributes, Arabs eventually had an upper hand in introducing their forms of exchange to the natives of East Africa and ultimately took over local trading patterns and channels.

As Arabs ventured deeper into the East African lands trading and mingling with more and more un-informed locals, another hidden aspect apart from trade came into view from their dealings.

Rightly and firmly stated, Arabs were proxies and grounds men for more informed, powerful and established entities, interests, powers and forces that later on became the modern day colonisers.

As trading continued between indigenous Africans and the visiting Arabs all the way from the coastline moving inwards into the deep forests and highlands, there arose a realization that there were more untapped resources available in these vast virgin lands.

These information was relayed further and eventually attracted European Traders, Rulers, Kings and Queens who later sent expedition and exploration teams to ascertain and verify the data collected.

These eventuality led to a myriad of changes and adjustments in the lifestyles of the East African locals from education, religion, health and all other aspects of normal daily living though we will stick to the economic and financial part of the changes.

Inside Colonial Coins :-

Once you have established and stabilized your passion in coin collecting, you may find that there is a need to better and further understand the origin, age, place of usage and also under which rulership the coins were minted.

Generally and basically speaking, coins as a medium of exchange were thought out and created vastly by rulers and heads of a particular society who were the guiding lights under which all other people operated around.

Different coins originated from various different backgrounds and in our context, East African colonial coins can be bracketed into two wide categories.

A wise coin collector is at an advantage when he or she has prior knowledge and information regarding a coins origin, history and usage.

After the scramble and partition of Africa, regions in and around the modern day East Africa were particularly apportioned to British and German domination even though at various points in time there were slight coloniser realignments. These two entities shaped up the main currencies of that time.

Further down, these wide currency categories are also subdivided depending on the rulers of a specific time line since each had a particular style and fashion aimed at portraying their supremacy and also to mark their domination.

Firstly let’s explore the British Empire rulers whose names are stamped on East African coins since these names will be mentioned in our everyday engagements.

• King George IV :- 1820 – 1830
• King William IV :- 1830 – 1837
• Queen Victoria :- 1837 – 1901
• King Edward VII :- 1901 – 1910
• King George V :- 1910 – 1936
• King Edward VIII :- 1936
• King George VI :- 1936 – 1952
• Queen Elizabeth II :- 1952 till end of colonialism

As a starting point, these British rulers had an impact on the coins that eventually circulated officially in colonial East Africa at different points in time.

Due to the Berlin conference (1884 – 1885) which regulated European colonization during the New Imperialism period, Germany was also awarded huge chunks of territory in East Africa.

With these in mind, it is therefore very wise for a coin collector to be privy of the ongoings in the German Empires’ history of rulers during that period since they also had a direct impact in the trading patterns which shape the study of colonial coins in East Africa.

• Wilhelm I :- 1871 – 1888
• Friedrich III :- 1888
• Wilhelm II :- 1888 – 1918

A great point to note under the German empire is that the name Kaiser was the title same as referring to King or Emperor whereas the term Guilelmus was particular to Wilhelm II.

NOTE :- There were other rulers who were before the ones above mentioned. These empires have been in existence from as far back as two thousand years. We simply major on the ones that had a direct impact in the East African context and setting.

Coins Of East Africa :-

As trading picked up in East Africa, slavery was a normal phenomenon and slaves were the work horses for transporting goods from the deep lands and forests up to the coast line where boats and ships carried the loot further over water to far away European lands.

One factor that shaped local currency at that time was the Uganda Railway which was majorly built by Indians through the Imperial British East Africa Company (I.B.E.A.C). The railway line was started in Mombasa in 1895 and touched Lake Victoria in 1901.

The workforce building the railway line was mainly paid in Indian Rupees that were minted in India which was a British colony. These resulted in Indian Rupees being widely used and accepted in East Africa between 1870 – 1920.

Slightly around that time due to World War I intricacies, there erupted a situation commonly referred to as The East African Rupee Crisis which resulted in the formation of a currency known as Florin which replaced the Indian Rupee although it was shortlived only for one year from 1920 – 1921

The Indian Rupee was decimalized into different fractions giving rise to different types of coins. Eventually also different decimalized forms of the East African Shilling later came into being thus elongating the list of East African coins.

• 1 Mohur = 15 Rupees
• 1 Rupee = 16 Annas
• 1 Anna = 4 Pices
• 1 Pice = 3 Pies
• 1 Rupee = 1 Florin
• 1 Rupee = 2 Shillings
• 1 Florin = 2 Shillings
• 1 Shilling = 100 Cents

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As all these was happening in British East Africa Protectorates, the German Empire was also not left behind in shaping their own part of territory.

NOTE :- There were very few realignments in the currency structures of the British Protectorate coins as compared to the very many readjustments observed in the German East Africa coins.

The German Empire administered its area of jurisdiction through an entity called German East African Company (Deutsch Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft – D.O.A.G) which was given a mandate to mint coins for circulation among other administrative functions.

Due to the widespread dominance of the British led Indian Rupees, the D.O.A.G issued their own kind of Rupees and added inscriptions of the company name combined with symbols of the company’s coat of arms.

The company also added the Kaisers portrait in military combat regalia with the trademark German Eagle perched on the Emperors helmet which was a way to distinguish G.E.A Rupees from Indian Rupees and also differentiate their spaces of currency circulation.

The Rupie (notice the spelling) was the currency of German East Africa between 1890 to 1916 though it circulated in the Tanganyika territory until 1920. Shortly later 1/4 and 1/2 Rupie were minted followed by silver 2 Rupien in 1893.

The Rupie was minted in the same standards as the Indian Rupee. With a similar silver composition same coin size and also same coin value.

As a result of decimalization, which was aimed at facilitating smaller and simpler transactions, between 1903 and 1905, the Rupie was sub divided into 100 Hellers. In 1904 D.O.A.G introduced One-Heller and Half-Heller coins followed by Five-Heller and Ten-Heller coins in 1908.

The 1/2 Heller coins were rejected by users since they got lost easily due to being too thin and small. In 1906 it was stopped from being minted.

The Five Heller coin on the hand was rejected for being too big and was replaced in 1913 by a smaller cupro-nickel coin that had a hole drilled in the middle of it. These made them very popular among African users.

Drilling a hole in East African coins was a great colonial strategy to promote their usage among Africans who were accustomed to using strings to tie together their cowrie shells since they lacked pockets to store them.

The Uganda Railway line was an important driver of the economy during that period. There was a lot of activity occasioned by its construction including movement of people and goods to and from the East African coastline.

Indians held a pivotal role in retail trade by mopping up huge amounts of subsidiary coins from African villages and consumers then exchanging them for Rupees with white settlers who in turn used the small coins to pay their workers and laborers.

Africans on the other hand preferred using decimalized coins for ease of utilization and kept Rupees for savings purposes. There were notes in circulation but Africans were afraid of using them due to fears of loosing them through fires, water and insects.

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Another crucial factor that shaped East African colonial coins was the First World War which was fought between 1914 and 1918. These war pitted the Allied Powers against the Central Powers.

The German Empire was among the Central Powers block and due to these they experienced a lot of challenges in exercising control over their East African territory.

So bad were the challenges that the D.O.A.G tried all means possible to stabilize their East African territory by introducing emergency coins as a result of being cut out by a blockade of Allied military forces.

Some of the emergency coins which were minted in Tabora in 1916 included the brass 5 Heller in addition to brass and copper 20 Heller coins. The gold 15 Rupien was also minted. The smaller valued coins were crudely minted and so they looked very unprofessional whereas the gold pieces received very fine minting.

Eventually the Germans had to give up their East African territory immediately after World War I.

After these the Florin coins came in as an interim and transitional currency in East Africa between 1920 and 1921. It replaced the Rupee as at par and was immediately replaced by the East African Shilling at a rate of 2 Shillings = 1 Florin.

East African Rare Coins :-

Coins are a medium of exchange and are used by a society or community for trade purposes, store of value and also a measure of value. These makes them widely used and generally acceptable in a certain region.

Whereas modern coins are minted in their millions, colonial coins were minted in low quantities maybe hundreds or a few thousands or even less depending on the limited available minting technology of that era.

The rarity or scarcity of a coin is influenced by a combination of factors each playing a significant role in determining its worth in the market.

How To Determine A Rare Coin :-

• Mintage :- The total number of a particular coin that were minted plays a pivotal role since the less they were minted the more rare and eventually the higher in value and sellability they are likely to be.
• Historical Significance :- Coins that are tied or related to a particular historical event, activity, person or period may have a higher demand therefore have a good chance of being rated as rare thus increasing in value.
• Condition (Grade) :- A well preserved coin has increased chances of being graded as a high value coin meaning it will fetch extremely good prices in the coins market.
• Demand (Popularity) :- Coins that are highly sought after due to their appeal and thematic relevance may be graded as rare. These may make them to be of high value therefore likely to fetch high market prices.
• Material Composition :- Content of a coin may increase its rarity rating in the market making it most likely to be graded as a high value coin.
• Errors And Varieties :- Coins with production errors, misprints, double strikes or other minting anomalies may be few in circulation thus increasing their rarity status. These may also enhance their market value.
• Age Bracket :- Older and information rich coins attract a lot of interest therefore tend to be few in circulation. These means that they rate higher in market value due to these rarity.
• Provenance (Pedigree) :- Previous owners of a particular coin can impact the rarity of the coin. A coin previously owned by a renowned collector or individual may be rated as a rare coin thus increasing its market value.

All the aforementioned factors are generally considered in assessing the rarity of a particular coin of interest and eventually it’s overall market value and price. The more a coin fits in either or a majority of these factors, the more it’s market value increases.

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Rare coins usually add diversity to a collectors portfolio and can potentially provide long term gains if properly harnessed. They also offer a significant profit potential way above and beyond the metal and face value of the coin.

The rare coins market just as many other types of markets, is not free from market volatility and fluctuations though a collector is always assured of making good sales when the market is stable.

QUICK TIP :- A coin collector is always advised to be aware of counterfeits and doctored coins whereby a coins surface is altered to diminish or conceal defects so as to misrepresent its condition and eventually it’s value.

These doctoring and counterfeiting of coins is what makes coin experts very important in coin collecting and trading since a beginner can be easily swayed into accepting a counterfeit coin on the pretext of a valid and authentic coin.

Trusted coin dealers and experts play an integral part in coin collecting since they guide amateurs as well as professional collectors to achieve the best trading environments at all times.

Special Coins :-

Coin collecting is an extremely wide subject and many people engage in it for various different reasons of their choice and preferences.

Apart from a coin being rare and evoking emotional interest due to its historical significance, there are other types of coins that at times exhibit peculiar reactions when exposed to certain environmental situations and conditions.

During different eras and periods in time, coins were made using locally available materials. Rulers, Kings and Queens of that time desired to showcase their conquests by using materials acquired from the lands that they had invaded and conquered.

Some of these materials could at times be very rare and could display very queer reactions when exposed to certain environmental situations and conditions. Some of these coins could also show peculiar ability to change or alter other substances that came into contact with them.

These reactions are largely and widely used to determine the authenticity of a coin of interest and particularly for a category of coins which is generally referred to as Special Coins.

As history has it and being a widely recognized and accepted fact, ancient Kings and Queens secretly hid their wealth in the form of coins.

Great and extremely top secret secrets were hidden in coins by both the mints and the owners who ordered the coins to be minted. Luckily there are advanced coin collectors, scholars and researchers who due to diligence and determination have managed to unravel these top secrets.

Some of these coins have very cleverly hidden treasure maps that lead to places of interest including exploration sites, places with high value natural deposits or even to persons or events of particular interest.

With these in mind, a coin collector may possess a coin of very high value without knowing it unless you partner with experienced coin dealers and trusted entities who can be free enough and willing to open up and incorporate you in the most secret of secrets.

Knowing which coin is a special coin is a delicate affair since as earlier indicated these category of coins are normally a very top secret secret that is hinged on a lot of trust, cooperation and partnership.

Special Coins are accompanied with extra normal features that are used to identify and authenticate them since from face value they look just like normal rare coins though they possess hidden features only known to advanced coin collectors, scholars and researchers.

Error Coins :-

When coins are being minted, occasionally some malfunctions or errors may occur during the process. These may result to some coins not being as per the standard or overall specifications required.

Mint made errors occur as a result of mint equipment malfunction or mint staff interference which result to some coins ending up being slightly different from the others. Usually such coins are reprocessed although a few find their way into circulation since some errors may be too small to be noticed easily.

Simply and directly stated, error coins are rejects that many coin collectors may go to great lengths to acquire them. Due to these desire, error coins are very rare thus considered high value coins.

Mint errors at times are unavoidable and these coins may eventually find their way into circulation. Mint errors can be classified into three broad categories of reasons for the errors.

• Planchet Errors :- A planchet also referred to as a blank is a flat piece of metal on which an impression or design is pressed on so as to make a coin.
• Die Errors :- A die is a metal that is used to punch an impression or design on the planchet. It contains an inverse of the image to be pressed onto the blank so to make a coin.
• Striking Errors :- Striking is the process of using force to press a die onto a planchet so to transfer the image thus making a coin with the intended design and image.

Be aware of counterfeits created by unscrupulous individuals who alter ordinary coins to make them look like error coins.

The above categorizations of mint errors can result into different types of errors which may include but not limited to :-

Double/Triple strikes, Off-centres, Broad strikes, Die caps, Brockages, Bonded coins, Double denominations, Struck fragments, Fold overs, Missing edge lettering and many more types of coin errors that have distinct individual differences.

Commemorative Coins :-

A commemorative coin is a coin that is envisioned and minted with a purpose of remembering or commemorating a particular event, occasion or person.

These type of coins are created and shaped to portray the symbols, images and inscriptions that depict the affair or entity under remembrance.

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A coin collector is normally advised and expected to handle commemorative coins within the parameters prescribed when handling high value coins.

• Regular Commemoratives :- These are coins that apart from being a reminder or remembrance of a particular purpose, they are also used in the day to day commerce, economic and circulation purposes.
• Circulating Commemoratives :- These are commemorative coins that are used in day to day commerce, exchange and circulation purposes only that they are minted just once then they cease from being produced.
• Non-Circulating Commemoratives :- These are coins that are legal tender but are not used for day to day exchange and commerce activities.

Generally speaking, commemoratives are a coin collectors gem and desire. They add value to ones portfolio and collection. They also attract many enthusiasts therefore making them extremely valuable in the coins market.

Proof Coins :-

These are specially produced coins made from highly polished and treated planchets and dies and are usually early samples of a coin issue made specifically for checking if the mint process is perfect and in order.

Proof Coins are normally struck atleast twice therefore giving them a frosted, sculpted foreground, a glamorous shine and a mirror like background.

Owning a proof coin is a sure avenue of getting good prices in the coins market provided you stick to the principles of good coin collecting.

Bullion Coins :-

These are coins that are struck from highly refined precious metals and are minted specifically to be reserved and kept as stores of value rather than for day to day circulation and usage.

Bullion coins are particular and targeted mostly by experienced and professional coin collectors who have an eye on investment purposes.