Dhar was a minor Maratha princely state in central India under British paramountcy, and this 1887 pattern was almost certainly struck in connection with Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee — a moment when several Indian princely states produced presentation and pattern pieces to mark the occasion, often in precious metals far exceeding the intrinsic value of the denomination they nominally represented. A quarter anna in gold weighing over thirteen grams is self-evidently not a circulation proposal. Anand Rao Pawar III ruled Dhar from 1857 until his death in 1898, a tenure defined largely by British administrative pressure on the state's already limited autonomy.
KM#13b designation implies at least two documented pattern variants for this type. The 'b' suffix typically reflects a metal distinction within the same die pairing.
Dhar was a minor Maratha princely state in central India under British paramountcy, and this 1887 pattern was almost certainly struck in connection with Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee — a moment when several Indian princely states produced presentation and pattern pieces to mark the occasion, often in precious metals far exceeding the intrinsic value of the denomination they nominally represented. A quarter anna in gold weighing over thirteen grams is self-evidently not a circulation proposal. Anand Rao Pawar III ruled Dhar from 1857 until his death in 1898, a tenure defined largely by British administrative pressure on the state's already limited autonomy.
KM#13b designation implies at least two documented pattern variants for this type. The 'b' suffix typically reflects a metal distinction within the same die pairing.