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2 Cash - Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma II
| Issuer | Travancore, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1849-1860 |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Copper |
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| Obverse description | Central depiction of Sri Krishna standing facing, holding balls of butter in both raised hands, rendered in a stylised indigenous artistic tradition. The central figure is enclosed within a beaded border circle. The Malayalam numeral '൨' (2) appears in the lower field below the figure, denoting the denomination. The overall design is characteristic of the small copper coinage of the Travancore princely state. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma II ruled Travancore under the suzerainty of the British East India Company, and the coinage issued during his reign reflects the peculiar half-sovereignty of a princely state still maintaining its own mint while increasingly subordinated to British financial oversight. Travancore was one of the few princely states permitted to continue striking copper small denomination coinage well into the mid-nineteenth century, largely because British administrators saw no economic incentive to absorb a low-value local currency system already deeply embedded in daily commerce along the Malabar coast.