{"id":1058,"date":"2026-01-29T15:08:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T04:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/?p=1058"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:08:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T04:08:54","slug":"collection-focus-the-tusks-of-empire-1937-east-africa-5-cents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/?p=1058","title":{"rendered":"Collection Focus: The Tusks of Empire (1937 East Africa 5 Cents)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Continuing the tour of the Heaton Mint&#8217;s global output, my collection lands in&nbsp;<strong>British East Africa<\/strong>&nbsp;(a currency union that covered modern-day Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This coin is a heavy, bronze heavyweight compared to the small silver coins of the era. It was designed to be robust enough for use in rural markets and carries a design that is unmistakably African.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Historical Context: A New King<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While the user description initially noted this as a George V issue, the legend&nbsp;<strong>GEORGIVS VI<\/strong>&nbsp;marks it as the first issue of&nbsp;<strong>King George VI<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1937 was a pivotal year. The previous year, 1936, saw the &#8220;Year of Three Kings&#8221; (George V died, Edward VIII abdicated, and George VI took the throne). Due to the time it took to ship dies to the colonies, 1937 was the first time the new King&#8217;s name appeared on East African coinage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Coin: 1937 East Africa 5 Cents<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"485\" src=\"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/East-Africa-George-V-5-Cents-combined-1024x485.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/East-Africa-George-V-5-Cents-combined-1024x485.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/East-Africa-George-V-5-Cents-combined-300x142.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/East-Africa-George-V-5-Cents-combined-768x364.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/East-Africa-George-V-5-Cents-combined-520x247.jpg 520w, https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/East-Africa-George-V-5-Cents-combined-940x446.jpg 940w, https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/East-Africa-George-V-5-Cents-combined.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Denomination:<\/strong>\u00a05 Cents<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Monarch:<\/strong>\u00a0George VI<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Year:<\/strong>\u00a01937<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mint:<\/strong>\u00a0Ralph Heaton &amp; Sons (Birmingham)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Metal:<\/strong>\u00a0Bronze<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reference:<\/strong>\u00a0KM 23<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Design:<\/strong><br>This is one of the great Art Deco designs of colonial numismatics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Obverse:<\/strong>\u00a0The Imperial Crown and the King&#8217;s titles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reverse:<\/strong>\u00a0Two large\u00a0<strong>Elephant Tusks<\/strong>\u00a0curving around the central hole. This motif was chosen to represent the ivory trade, which was a major (if controversial by modern standards) export of the region at the time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Heaton Mark:<\/strong><br>You don&#8217;t need to hunt for a &#8220;Ghost&#8221; here. The&nbsp;<strong>H<\/strong>&nbsp;mintmark is clearly visible on the reverse, located at the very bottom, just above the date&nbsp;<strong>1937<\/strong>&nbsp;and between the tips of the two tusks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Condition &amp; Grading<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>East African bronze is incredibly hard and durable. These coins often circulated for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Assessment:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Obverse:<\/strong>\u00a0The Crown details are distinct, and the legend is sharp.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reverse:<\/strong>\u00a0The smooth curves of the tusks often show scratches and dings easily, but here they are relatively clean.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Surface:<\/strong>\u00a0The coin possesses a deep, dark &#8220;chocolate&#8221; patina. This is the ideal look for vintage bronze. There is some minor verdigris (green residue) in the recesses of the date, which is to be expected for a copper-based coin of this age.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Grade: Very Fine (VF)<\/strong><br><em>A solid, problem-free example with excellent eye appeal thanks to that rich dark toning.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Verdict<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This coin is a tactile delight\u2014it feels heavy and significant in the hand. It links the industrial capacity of Birmingham (the Heaton Mint) with the vast landscapes of East Africa. As a 1937 issue, it also stands as a historical marker for the beginning of the George VI era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Further Reading &amp; Data:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=E&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fen.numista.com%2Fcatalogue%2Fpieces1847.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">View 1937 East Africa 5 Cents Specifications on Numista<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Continuing the tour of the Heaton Mint&#8217;s global output, my collection lands in&nbsp;British East Africa&nbsp;(a currency union that covered modern-day&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,154,155],"tags":[83,150,98],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-1058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coins","category-east-africa","category-ea-george-vi-1936-1952","tag-bronze","tag-five-cents","tag-heaton-mint"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/East-Africa-George-V-5-Cents-combined.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1059,"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions\/1059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1058"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbc.31pendleton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwf_post_folders&post=1058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}