Swaziland, the world’s only autocratic monarchy, is wreaking revenge on its former colonial master through its one lilangeni coin, which passes for a British one pound coin in size, weight and golden appearance, but is practically worthless.
Hundreds of the coins — which are worth around five British pence — have turned up in parking metres and railway ticket machines, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.
”People need to take extra care when checking their change. Our concern is that many pensioners and elderly members of the community could mistake them for pound coins,” Constable Paul Curran of British Transport Police said.
The Swazi High Commission in London said it was not aware of a problem, but that the authorities in the landlocked southeast African kingdom, would do all they could do prevent their use in Britain. The representative could not specify precisely what could be done.
The coins have King Mswati III (34) on one side and one lilangeni written on the other. The king has run into trouble with a girl’s mother after he chose the 18-year-old to be his 11th bride.
The British coin depicts another monarch troubled in the past by marital difficulties in her family — Elizabeth II. – Sapa-DPA