Catalog
1/2 Rupee - George VI
| Issuer | Mauritius |
|---|---|
| Year | 1946 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A finely detailed stag (Java deer, Cervus timorensis) stands in full profile facing left, rendered in high relief against a plain field, with prominent antlers extending into the upper portion of the design. The engraver's initials 'KG' appear below the animal at lower left. The divided legend 'MAURITIUS' to the left and 'HALF RUPEE' to the right arcs along the upper periphery, each word separated by a raised dot, within a beaded border. The date '1946' is prominently displayed in the exergue beneath a ground line. |
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| Edge | Security edge |
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| Additional information |
Mauritius received very limited silver coinage during World War II, and the 1946 half rupee arrived just as the island was transitioning out of wartime economic controls. The .500 fineness reflects a deliberate wartime-era reduction from the pre-war .500 standard — already debased — that Britain applied across its colonial silver issues in the 1920s and maintained through the 1940s. By the time this piece was struck, wholesale demonetization of silver coinage across the British Empire was only years away.