Alwar 1880 rupee
This specimen was lot 2627 in Steve Album Auction 51 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2025), where it sold for $156. The catalog description[1] noted, "ALWAR: Mangal Singh, 1874-1892, AR rupee, 1880, machine-struck; obverse has portrait of Empress Victoria, small spot of lamination and faint hairlines on the obverse, still an attractive piece, Unc, ex Wilfried Pieper Collection." Alwar was an Indian princely state in Rajputana northeast of Jaipur. Mangal Singh (1874-92) was the first ruler to issue milled coinage, including this rupee of 1880. All the local rulers were stripped of their privileges after independence in 1947. This type was struck 1877-82; proofs exist for some dates.
Recorded mintage: 196,000.
Specification: 11.66 g, 0.917 fine silver, 31.5 mm diameter, reeded edge.
Catalog reference: KM-45.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 51, featuring the Howard Daniel III Collection of Asian Coins, the Almer H. Orr III Collection of World Coins and the Joe Sedillot Collection of German Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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