(sold for $16.0)

1940, Southern Rhodesia (British), George VI. Silver Two Shillings Coin. XF-AU!

Mint Year: 1940 Reference: KM-19. Denomination: Shilling Condition: Minor edge-nick and scattered contact-marks from circulation, otherwise a beautiful XF-AU! Mint Place: Royal mint, London (UK) Material: Sterling Silver (.925) Weight: 11.28gm Diameter: 28mm

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.