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Indian Rupee counterstamped Victoria
| Issuer | Obock Territory (1862-1896) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1892-1914 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 11.64 g |
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| Obverse description | Effigy of Queen Victoria facing left, rendered in high relief with a diademed and veiled bust. The portrait is encircled by the legend VICTORIA QUEEN along the periphery. Applied to the coin's field is a merchant counterstamp in Arabic script reading 'Abd al-Latif Sani' al-Fidda bi-Jibuti' (Abd al-Latif, silversmith of Djibouti), identifying the individual who authorized or authenticated the coin for local commercial circulation. The counterstamp is incuse and rectangular in form, applied at a position within the obverse field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central design features a value inscription within a wreath, rendered in both English and Urdu (Yek Rupiya). The denomination ONE RUPEE appears prominently within the wreath, which is composed of stylized floral and foliate elements. The outer legend reads EAST INDIA COMPANY encircling the upper periphery, with the date 1840 placed in the exergue below the wreath. The script alternates between Latin characters for the English legend and Urdu script for the vernacular denomination. |
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| Additional information |
Obock was a French protectorate on the Gulf of Aden, acquired in 1862 but largely neglected until the 1880s when competition with British Somaliland made a functioning local currency politically necessary. Rather than striking original coinage, French colonial authorities counterstamped circulating British Indian rupees — already the dominant trade coin across the Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula — with a small punch authorizing their use in Obock's territory. It was a cheap administrative solution to a real monetary problem.
The territory itself was effectively superseded by Djibouti after 1896, which explains the long striking window stretching well past Obock's administrative dissolution.