1/4 Ashrafi - Mir Mahbub Ali Khan II

Mir Mahbub Ali Khan II ruled Hyderabad for over four decades, and the princedom's gold coinage reflects the considerable autonomy the Nizam retained under the Paramountcy arrangement with British India — including the right to strike gold, a privilege denied to most other princely states. The Ashrafi series was denominated on a pre-metric system rooted in Mughal monetary tradition, with the quarter unit serving everyday transactions among the city's merchant class.

The long date range of this type masks significant variation in die quality across the reign. Hyderabad's mint operated under local supervision without the standardization imposed on British Indian issues.