1/2 Paisa - Afzal-ad-Daula

Afzal-ad-Daula ruled Hyderabad through one of the most turbulent stretches in the Nizam's history — his reign began the same year as the Indian Rebellion of 1857, when the Nizam's government made the calculated decision to support the British rather than join the uprising. That loyalty proved consequential: Hyderabad emerged from 1857 with its autonomy more firmly guaranteed than almost any other princely state. These fractional copper pieces were the workhorse of local bazaar commerce during that consolidation, struck at the Hyderabad mint under arrangements that kept the Nizam's coinage distinct from British India's currency system well into the following decade.