1 Threepence

1937, Australia (Commonwealth), George VI. Nice Silver 3 Pence Coin. AU+

Mint Year: 1937 References: KM-37. Denomination:  3 Pence Condition: Minor contact-marks in obverse, otherwise a nice AU+  Material: Sterling Silver (.925) Diameter: 16mm Weight: 1.4gm

Obverse: Head of George VI left. Legend: GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX F : D : IND : IMP Reverse: Wheat Stalks / Shield, supported by kangoroo and emu / Ram´s head left, flanked by stars. Legend: AUSTRALIA , THREEPENCE  /   1937

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.