Mangrol was a small Muslim-ruled princely state on the Kathiawar peninsula in what is now Gujarat, with a population that rarely exceeded a few thousand. During the Second World War, metal coinage across British India became acutely scarce — copper and nickel were diverted to the war effort — and dozens of minor princely states issued emergency cash coupons to fill the gap left by hoarded and melted coins. Mangrol's contribution to that improvised monetary patchwork was this 1 Anna piece, printed on gray-green pressboard rather than conventional banknote paper.
The use of pressboard was purely practical — it was available, cheap, and stiff enough to survive handling as a small-denomination substitute for coin.
Mangrol was a small Muslim-ruled princely state on the Kathiawar peninsula in what is now Gujarat, with a population that rarely exceeded a few thousand. During the Second World War, metal coinage across British India became acutely scarce — copper and nickel were diverted to the war effort — and dozens of minor princely states issued emergency cash coupons to fill the gap left by hoarded and melted coins. Mangrol's contribution to that improvised monetary patchwork was this 1 Anna piece, printed on gray-green pressboard rather than conventional banknote paper.
The use of pressboard was purely practical — it was available, cheap, and stiff enough to survive handling as a small-denomination substitute for coin.