Catalog
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| Issuer | Government of India |
|---|---|
| Year | 1862-1876 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | VICTORIA QUEEN |
| Reverse description | Central field bears the denomination and issuer's name in three stacked lines reading 1/4, RUPEE, and INDIA, with the date below, all separated by a horizontal rule beneath RUPEE. The inscription is enclosed within an ornate wreath of scrolling acanthus foliage interspersed with stylised floral and foliate motifs, including thistle-like blossoms and palmette ornaments at the base. A beaded border surrounds the entire composition, consistent with the milled coinage style of British India. |
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| Additional information |
The 1862 coinage reform unified India's currency under a single imperial system for the first time, replacing the chaotic patchwork of Presidency coinages — Bombay, Bengal, and Madras had each maintained separate series with differing standards. All three mints struck the new type simultaneously, and coins from each carry a small identifying letter beneath the bust: B for Bombay, C for Calcutta, no mint mark for Madras. The Madras mint closed in 1869, making later examples without a mark impossible and giving pre-closure pieces an inadvertent rarity among type collectors.
Calcutta-struck pieces from this series are generally the sharpest, a consequence of that mint's superior die preparation practices throughout the 1860s.