1 Fanam - Chithira Thirunal Bala Rama Varma II

Chithira Thirunal Bala Rama Varma ruled Travancore through one of the subcontinent's most turbulent decades, and the fanams minted under his reign carry that instability quietly. When the Indian Independence Act passed in 1947, Travancore briefly — and controversially — declared intent to remain independent rather than accede to India, a position reversed only under considerable pressure from Sardar Patel's integration campaign. These coins predate that crisis by a few years but were struck in a princely state already aware that its monetary autonomy had an expiration date.