The pound was the currency of

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

from 1964 to 1965 and

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

from 1965 until 1970. It was subdivided into 20 ''

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

s'', each of 12 ''

pence A penny is a coin (: pennies) or a unit of currency (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is t ...

''.

History

The Rhodesian pound was introduced following the break-up of the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southern ...

, when

changed its name to simply

. The Rhodesian pound replaced the

Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound The pound was the currency of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. It was subdivided into 20 ''shillings'', each of 12 ''penny, pence''. History The Federation was formed in 1953, and the new currency was created in 1955 to replace the Sout ...

at par and the coins and banknotes of this earlier currency continued to circulate. Like its predecessor, the Rhodesian pound was initially pegged to sterling. When sterling was devalued from

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

2.8 to US$2.4 in 1967, Rhodesia switched its peg to £1 Rhodesian = US$2.8. In 1970, the pound was replaced by the

dollar Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...

, at a rate of £1 Rhodesian = $2 Rhodesian, so $1 Rhodesian was US$1.40.

Coins

In 1964, coins were introduced for 6d, 1/–, 2/– and 2/6. These coins also bore a denomination in cents (5^c, 10^c, 20^c and 25^c, respectively), although Rhodesia did not decimalise until 1970. This was possibly for compatibility with the

South African rand The South African rand, or simply the rand, (currency sign, sign: R; ISO 4217, code: ZAR) is the official currency of South Africa. It is subdivided into 100 Cent (currency), cents (sign: "c"), and a comma separates the rand and cents. The Sou ...

, which retained a fixed 2:1 parity with the Rhodesian pound until 1967. In 1968, 3d coins were introduced which did not bear a denomination in cents. All coins had the title of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, rather than in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, as had been the case on the coins of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and Southern Rhodesia.

Banknotes

Beginning in 1964, banknotes were issued in denominations of 10/–, £1 and £5. All notes featured

on the obverse. The reverse designs were reused on the new dollar notes introduced on 17 February 1970. The Rhodesian dollar notes are similar to the earlier Rhodesian pound issues, but marked with the new currency units, the bank logo replaces the coat of arms, and the coat of arms replaces the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Prior to

UDI Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi Hills, Enugu State, Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People Given name * Udi Aloni (born 1959), Israeli-American film ...

, Rhodesia was a member of the sterling zone. The banknotes were printed and supplied from the UK by the printers Bradbury Wilkinson. After UDI, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

government expelled Rhodesia from the sterling zone and the supply of banknotes dried up. This very soon had an adverse effect in Rhodesia, and the shortage of new notes and the condition of those in circulation began to become a pressing concern. In early 1966, the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia ordered a completely new series of Rhodesian banknotes from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

printers

Giesecke & Devrient Giesecke+Devrient GmbH (G+D) is a German international security technology company operating in the fields of Computer security, digital security, financial platforms, and currency technology. Founded in 1852, the company evolved from a manufactu ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. A court injunction prevented the banknotes from being despatched to Rhodesia, and the entire order was destroyed by the printers.SOUTHERN RHODESIA
''

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...

'', HC Deb 18 April 1967 vol 745 cc441-90 Substitute consignments were printed in Rhodesia between 1966 and October 1968.

References

External links

Rhodesian Currency
{{Portal bar, Africa, Money, Numismatics Modern obsolete currencies Currencies of Africa

pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), various units of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile * A bas ...

1964 establishments in Southern Rhodesia 1970 disestablishments in Rhodesia Pound (currency)