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2 Mohurs - Victoria 1854 Proof Set
| Issuer | East India Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1854 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 2 Mohurs (30) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Youthful bare-headed effigy of Queen Victoria facing left, rendered in high relief after the portrait by William Wyon. The obverse legend reads VICTORIA QUEEN to the left and right of the bust respectively, with the date 1854 positioned below in the exergue. The portrait displays fine hair detail and a graceful neckline truncation characteristic of Wyon's early Victorian coinage style. The field surrounding the bust is smooth and deeply mirrored, consistent with proof striking. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A lion passant to the left is depicted at centre, with a palm tree rising behind it, serving as the principal heraldic device of the East India Company coinage. The issuer's name EAST INDIA COMPANY arcs across the upper legend, while the denomination TWO MOHURS appears in the lower legend in Latin script. Below or flanking the central device, the denomination is also rendered in Persian script as دو اثرفى (Dho Ashrafi, meaning Two Mohurs), reflecting the bilingual nature of Company coinage intended for circulation across the subcontinent. The overall design is precise and deeply struck, consistent with proof manufacture. |
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| Additional information |
The 1854 proof coinage of the East India Company was produced in anticipation of a currency reform that never fully materialized. Parliament was already debating the future of the Company's charter — which would be revoked entirely following the 1857 uprising — and these proofs were struck more as administrative specimens than as precursors to a circulating series. The 2 Mohur denomination itself was essentially ceremonial in scale, far exceeding the practical transaction values of everyday commerce in British India.
Surviving examples trace almost entirely to original proof sets, which explains the disproportionate rate of survival in near-pristine condition relative to the minuscule number believed struck.