India 1894-B 1/2 rupee
This specimen was lot 901 in Stephen Album sale 41 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2021), where it sold for $720. The catalog description[1] noted, "BRITISH INDIA: Victoria, Empress, 1876-1901, AR ½ rupee, 1894-B, an attractive lustrous nearly mint state example! PCGS graded AU58." This type was issued at Calcutta and Bombay 1877-1901 in a bewildering array of varieties, including proofs, off-metal strikes and restrikes. The type is not rare but is infrequently seen compared to the silver rupee. It is distinguished from the type issued 1862-76 by the obverse legend, "VICTORIA EMPRESS" instead of "VICTORIA QUEEN." For 1894, the Bombay product comes with an incuse "B" mintmark in the flower above "HALF" and Calcutta is marked with an incuse "C". The mintmarks (or lack of them) varied from year to year.
Recorded mintage: unknown but a common date.
Specification: 5.83 g, 0.917 fine silver, .171 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: KM-491, S&W-6.223.
- 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 Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 41, featuring the Dick Nanta Collection of Giray Khans, Part II, the Charles Opitz Collection of Ethnographic Money, Part II, and the Allan F. Pacela Collection of Chinese Coins. Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2021.
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