Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Anna - Edward VII Holed Pattern
| Issuer | India - British |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Central hole encircled by an ornamental ring composed of interlaced 'E' cyphers in low relief. The design is surmounted by a crown at the top, with the legend INDIAN EMPIRE arranged around the periphery and the date 1905 appearing in the lower exergual area. The overall treatment reflects the decorative Arts and Crafts influence characteristic of Edwardian-era pattern coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Pattern coinage for British India's proposed nickel anna series was struck at the Royal Mint in 1905 as part of a broader push to replace the unwieldy copper anna with a lighter, more durable alternative. The holed format was deliberately borrowed from contemporary Japanese and Straits Settlements practice, where central holes aided circulation by allowing coins to be strung — a practical concession to the habits of Indian bazaar traders.
The nickel anna never entered production. The proposal stalled over concerns about public resistance to the unfamiliar metal, and India continued striking copper annas until the eventual shift to cupro-nickel decades later. Surviving 1905 patterns are consequently rare; most known examples passed through a handful of specialist sales in the twentieth century.