1 Paisa - Malhar Rao

Baroda's copper paisa issues of this period were struck under Malhar Rao Gaekwad, whose reign ended abruptly in 1875 when the British deposed him on charges of misgovernance and an alleged poisoning attempt against the British Resident, Colonel Phayre. The accusation — arsenic in the Colonel's sherbet — was never conclusively proven, but the political outcome was not in doubt. Malhar Rao was exiled to Madras, and a new ruler installed within the year, making this a short-window issue by administrative accident rather than design.