1943 is the last year of the East African 5 cents bearing the title of George VI, and its entire mintage of 17,880,000 coins came from the Pretoria mint, whose «SA» mark appears on the coin.

The South African mint joined the suppliers of this denomination only in 1942, and a year earlier Bombay had struck a large batch. Before the war the five-cent pieces were shipped from Birmingham, from the Heaton and Kings Norton mints, so the «SA» mark instantly identifies a wartime coin.

The design is modest but expressive: on the obverse a crown sits above the hole and «FIVE CENTS» below it, with the legend «GEORGIVS VI REX ET IND:IMP:» around the rim, naming the king also Emperor of India. On the reverse elephant tusks embrace the central hole, with «EAST AFRICA» above and the numeral 5 and the year below.

Coins like this served the territories of the East African Currency Board, whose shilling circulated in the region from 1921. Grade F-VF: traces of long circulation are visible, but the crown, tusks and legends remain legible. As the closing year of type KM# 25 it is a needed piece for a complete date run.

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