India 1853 1/2 pice
This specimen was lot 2327 in Steve Album Auction 54 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2026), where it sold for $180. The catalog description[1] noted, "BRITISH INDIA: Victoria, Queen, 1837-1876, AE 1/2 pice, 1853(c), East India Company issue, tied with only one other example for highest graded (Top Pop) at PCGS, a wonderful chocolate brown mint state example! PCGS graded MS64." Numista notes that this coin was introduced to drive out the use of cowrie shells in commerce. It was worth 1/128 of a rupee. It was struck at Calcutta with a frozen date for several years, probably until the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and the government takeover of the East India Company in 1858.
Recorded mintage: 62,408,583 plus proofs and restrikes.
Specification: 3.23 g, copper, 21 mm diameter, plain edge.
Catalog reference: KM-464, S&W-3.84.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Stevens, Paul, and Randy Weir, The Uniform Coinage of India, 1835 to 1947, A Catalogue and Pricelist, London, Spink & Son Ltd, 2012.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 54, featuring selections from the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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