The 1862 Indian coinage reform was a sweeping unification effort that standardized rupee denominations across the presidency mints at Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. Off-metal strikes in gold from this series were never intended for circulation — they were produced as presentation pieces, proofs of the die work, or at the request of officials and collectors with access to the mint. The SW 4.132 attribution places this firmly within Spalding and Weir's documentation of such pieces, which are genuinely rare survivors.
The 1862 Indian coinage reform was a sweeping unification effort that standardized rupee denominations across the presidency mints at Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. Off-metal strikes in gold from this series were never intended for circulation — they were produced as presentation pieces, proofs of the die work, or at the request of officials and collectors with access to the mint. The SW 4.132 attribution places this firmly within Spalding and Weir's documentation of such pieces, which are genuinely rare survivors.