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1 Cash - Victoria Trial Strike
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1863 |
| 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 | Milled |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain copper field centred on a square raised frame surrounding a round central hole, closely mirroring the traditional form of Chinese cash coins. Four large Chinese characters in bold, brushwork-style relief are disposed around the central aperture in the conventional four-directional arrangement: 香 (above), 港 (below), 一 (right), and 文 (left), together reading 香港一文 — 'Hong Kong One Cash'. The design is uncluttered, with no additional ornament or border devices, emphasising the purely functional and culturally adapted character of this pattern piece. |
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| Reverse lettering | 香 港 一 文 |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
In the early 1860s, the Royal Mint was actively exploring a coinage system for India that would replace the chaotic patchwork of presidency and princely issues still circulating across the subcontinent. This trial strike was part of that exercise — pattern pieces submitted for official consideration, never approved for circulation. The two KM pattern numbers reflect variants struck in the same exploratory batch, almost certainly differing in die alignment or edge treatment rather than any substantive design change.
The cash denomination itself was already archaic by 1863, a unit of account associated with Madras presidency coinage that the colonial administration was moving to phase out entirely in favor of a unified rupee-anna-pice structure.