History of the threepence the possible advent of a decimal currency at the time (see florin), when the 3d at 1/80th of a pound would not have fitted within a decimal system). Currency silver threepences from 1838 to 1926 were of identical design and cannot usually be distinguished except in the best conditions when the higher striking standard of the maundy coins stand out; this resulted in the curious legal anomaly that when the currency was decimalised in 1971 "all" silver threepences from 1870 onwards were revalued at three new pence, not just the maundy coins. Threepences were produced with both the "young head"
Coins of the Rhodesian pound The Gambia). Secondly, the coins were dual-denominated (with 5c, 10c, 20c and 25c). This was not only to familiarise the public with the decimal system, but also to allow the coins to remain legal tender after the forthcoming change over to decimal currency. All coins had the title of Queen Elizabeth II in English, rather than in Latin, as had been the case on the coins of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and Southern Rhodesia. On November 11, 1965, Rhodesia was declared by Prime Minister Ian Smith to be an independent Dominion. This led to sanctions being imposed by both the British