50 Cent Straits Settlements (1826 - 1946) Silver Victoria (1819 - ...

Straits Settlements, Queen Victoria. Scarce Silver 50 Cents Coin. VF-aXF!

Mint Year: 1888 Mintage: 96,000 pcs. Denomination: 20 Cents References: KM-13 ($260 in VF!). Condition: A small chop-mark in lower right field, minor deposits, otherwise VF-aXF! Composition: Silver (.800) Weight: 13.48gm Diameter: 31mm

Obverse: Crowned young head of Queen Victoria left. Legend: VICTORIA QUEEN Reverse: Large denomination numeral (50) within circle of beads. Legend: STRAITS SETTLEMENTS . FIFTY CENTS . 1888 .

The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on April 1, 1867. The colony was dissolved as part of the British reorganisation of its South-East Asian dependencies following the end of the Second World War. The Straits Settlements consisted of the individual settlements of Malacca, Penang (also known as Prince of Wales Island), and Singapore, as well as (from 1907) Labuan. With the exception of Singapore, these territories now form a part of Malaysia.

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and from 1 May 1876 the first Empress of India until her death. Her reign as Queen lasted 63 years and seven months, longer than that of any other British monarch to date. The period centred on her reign is known as the Victorian era.

Though Victoria ascended the throne at a time when the United Kingdom was already an established constitutional monarchy in which the king or queen held few political powers, she still served as a very important symbolic figure of her time. The Victorian era represented the height of the Industrial Revolution, a period of significant social, economic, and technological progress in the United Kingdom. Victoria’s reign was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire; during this period it reached its zenith, becoming the foremost global power of the time.

Victoria, who was of almost entirely German descent, was the granddaughter of George III and the niece of her predecessor William IV. She arranged marriages for her nine children and forty-two grandchildren across the continent, tying Europe together; this earnedher the nickname “the grandmother of Europe”. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover; her son King Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Through her mother, she was also a first cousin twice removed of Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress.