1 Rupee Second Sikh Occupation

The Second Sikh Occupation coinage of 1849 was struck during the final weeks before the Punjab was formally annexed by the East India Company following the British victory at the Battle of Gujrat in February of that year. By the time these pieces entered circulation, the Sikh Empire had effectively ceased to exist — Maharaja Duleep Singh was deposed in March, and the Punjab became a British province. Gold pieces of this fractional weight from this terminal issue are rarely encountered, existing at the intersection of a collapsing state and an occupying administration with little interest in perpetuating native coinage.