The silver Three Halfpence (1½d) coin was introduced in Queen Ceylon and the West Indies in each year between 1834 and 1843, and also in 1860 and 1862 (and proof coins were also produced in 1870).
The coin is considered to be part of the British coinage because it has no indication of what country it was minted for, being made in the same style as the other contemporary British coins.
The coins were made of silver, weighed 0.7 grams and had a diameter of 12 millimetres. The reverse of the coin, throughout its existence, showed "1½" beneath a crown and over the date, all contained within a wreath. The obverse of coins minted between 1834 and 1837 show the right-facing portrait of King William IV with the inscription GULIELMUS IIII D G BRITANNIAR REX F D. The obverse of the later coins bear the left_facing portrait of Queen Victoria, with the inscription VICTORIA D G BRITANNIAR REGINA F D.
In 1920, the silver content of all Britishcoins was reduced from 92.5% to 50%, with a portion of the remainder consisting of manganese, which caused the coins to tarnish to a very dark colour after they had been in circulation for a significant period.
The weight of this coin was instituted by Charlemagne, and the purity of 92.5% silver (i.e., sterling silver) was instituted by Henry II in 1158 with the "Tealby Penny"—a hammered coin.
All Britishcoins produced since 1662 have been milled; the first milled coins were produced during the reign of Elizabeth I and periodically during the reigns of James I and Charles I, but there was opposition to mechanisation from the moneyers who ensured that most coins continued to be produced by hammering.
The Johanneses were gold coins, 8 escudos (12,800 reis) in denomination; their name derived from the obverse of the coin, which bore the bust of Johannes V. Minted in Portugal and Brazil, they were commonly known in the colonies as “joes.” The fractional denominations were 4 escudo and 2 escudo coins of the same origin.
The 4 escudo (6,400 reis) coin, or “half joe,” was one of the most commonly used coins in the late colonial period.
The ratings attached to individual coins were not haphazard: they were designed to reflect the relative weight and purity of the bullion in each coin, as well as the ratio of gold to silver prices prevailing in the wider world.
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