Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma VI ruled Travancore from 1885 until his death in 1924, a reign that coincided with the state's most aggressive push toward administrative modernization under British paramountcy. The 1901 date places this issue squarely within Travancore's independently operated mint at Thiruvananthapuram, one of the few princely states permitted to strike its own copper coinage well into the twentieth century.
KM#40 is among the smallest denominations in the Travancore series by both weight and purchasing power — struck in quantities sufficient for bazaar use but light enough that attrition through loss and corrosion was considerable.
Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma VI ruled Travancore from 1885 until his death in 1924, a reign that coincided with the state's most aggressive push toward administrative modernization under British paramountcy. The 1901 date places this issue squarely within Travancore's independently operated mint at Thiruvananthapuram, one of the few princely states permitted to strike its own copper coinage well into the twentieth century.
KM#40 is among the smallest denominations in the Travancore series by both weight and purchasing power — struck in quantities sufficient for bazaar use but light enough that attrition through loss and corrosion was considerable.