1/4 Rupee - George VI

The 1946 date places this coin in a narrow window: the Royal Mint was simultaneously managing post-war metal shortages and resuming colonial coinage contracts that had been disrupted since the early 1940s. Mauritius had relied on Indian currency and emergency issues during the war years, creating genuine demand for circulating silver when production resumed.

The .500 fineness reflects a deliberate postwar reduction from earlier sterling-silver colonial issues — a decision made in London, not Mauritius, driven by Treasury pressure to conserve fine silver across the entire colonial coinage program.