1 Pice Bronze Pattern

In 1949, India was still finalizing the coinage system it would carry into independence — the 1 Pice presented particular problems, as planners debated whether the tiny denomination had any practical future in a modernizing economy. This piece is a pattern, meaning it never cleared the approval process for circulation, and the extremely low weight suggests an experimental reduction from the standard pice specification, likely one of several size trials conducted before the denomination was ultimately retained in a different form.