3 Penny Southern Rhodesia (1923-1980) Silver George VI (1895-1952)

1937, Southern Rhodesia (British), George VI. Silver 3 Pence Coin.

Mint Year: 1937 Denomination: 3 Pence Mint Place: Royal mint, London (UK) Material: Sterling Silver (.925) Diameter: 16mm Weight: 1.41gm

Obverse: Crowned head of the King facing left, the bust extends to the edge of the coin. Legend: GEORGE VI KING EMPEROR

Reverse: Value (3) above three spears, splitting date (19-37). Legend: SOUTHERN RHODESIA

Southern Rhodesia was the name of the self-governing British colony north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. After its Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, it was known as simply Rhodesia until 1979, when it reconstituted itself under majority rule as the unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia. It reverted to colonial status in December 1979, and it became the recognised state of Zimbabwe in April 1980.

George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895-6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India (until 1947) and the last King of Ireland (until 1949).

As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. He served in the Royal Navy during World War I, and after the war took on the usual round of public engagements. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth (who succeeded him as Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret.

At the death of his father in 1936, the future George VI’s brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII. However, less than a year later Edward expressed his desire to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. For political and religious reasons, the British Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, advised Edward that he could not marry Mrs. Simpson and remain king. So, Edward abdicated in order to marry. By reason of this abdication, unique in the history of the British Isles (previous abdications were forced by military or political pressures), George VI ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor.

Within twenty-four hours of his accession the Irish parliament passed the External Relations Act, which essentially removed the power of the monarch in Ireland. Further events greatly altered the position of the monarchy during his reign: three years after his accession, his realms, except Ireland, were at war with Nazi Germany. In the next two years, war with Italy and the Empire of Japan followed. A major consequence of World War II was the decline of the British Empire, with the United States and the Soviet Union rising as pre-eminent world powers. With the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, and the foundation of the Republic of Ireland in 1949, King George’s reign saw the acceleration of the break-up of the British Empire and its transition into the Commonwealth of Nations.