½ Falus - Wajid ali shah

Wajid Ali Shah's reign ended abruptly in February 1856 when the East India Company annexed Awadh under Lord Dalhousie's Doctrine of Lapse — despite the state having a direct male heir, making the annexation legally contentious even by the Company's own framework. Wajid Ali Shah refused to sign the treaty of cession and was exiled to Calcutta. This coin, struck in what proved to be the final year of independent Awadhi coinage, circulated for barely months before the mint ceased production under British authority.

The annexation of Awadh was a direct contributing grievance to the 1857 uprising.