India 1944(b) rupee
The first specimen was lot 1769 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 28 (Winter Park, FL, November 2020), where it sold for $66. The catalog description[1] noted, "Bombay, India (British), rupee, George VI, 1944(B), bead at bottom, PCGS MS64. Vibrant rainbow toning over subdued luster." The second specimen was lot 46751 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2024), where it did not sell. The catalog description[2] noted, "INDIA. Rupee, 1944-(B). Bombay Mint. George VI. PCGS AU-58. Variety with bead." The rupee, which had long been 0.917 fine silver, was debased to 0.500 fine silver in 1939. The obverse was modified in 1942-43 to reduce the size of the bust and increase the denticles and struck in that form until 1945 at Bombay and Lahore. This is a common date. Calcutta did not participate. A few were struck without the security edge by mistake; these are rare.
Reported Mintage: 146,206,000 plus proofs plus 91,400,000 from Lahore.
Specification: 11.66 g, 0.500 fine silver, 30.5 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: SW-9.27; KM-557.1 (security edge) or KM 557.2 (reeded edge).
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th 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]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia and Cori Sedwick Downing, Treasure Auction 28, featuring the Dr. Peter Jones and John O'Brien collections, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2020.
- [2]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2024 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Emilio M. Ortiz Collection, The Richard Margolis Collection and The Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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