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1/4 Rupee - Chithira Thirunal Bala Rama Varma II
| Issuer | Travancore, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940-1942 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.66 g |
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| Obverse description | Central device features the Shanku (sacred conch shell), a traditional symbol of the Travancore royal house, flanked by decorative floral sprays. The conch is depicted upright in the field, rendered in fine relief. A circular legend in Malayalam script surrounds the central device within a beaded border, reading 'Thiruvithamkoor Kaal Roopa', identifying the issuer and denomination in the Malayalam language. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Travancore maintained its own coinage well into the twentieth century under the paramountcy system, which permitted princely states to issue currency provided it did not directly compete with British Indian coinage in practice. Chithira Thirunal, who acceded at age twelve in 1931 under a regent, was ruling independently by this period — and Travancore's monetary autonomy was already living on borrowed time. Indian independence in 1947 and the subsequent integration of the princely states extinguished the kingdom's mint authority entirely.
The .500 fineness reflects wartime silver economy pressures that affected subsidiary coinage across South Asia from the late 1930s onward.