Madras (1808-11) 1/2 pagoda KM-354
This specimen was lot 7855 in Ponterio sale 152 (New York, January 2010), where it sold for $1,150. The catalog description[1] noted, "INDIA. Madras Presidency. 1/2 Pagoda, ND (1808-11). Struck over a Mexico 1794-FM 8 Reales. Exceptional quality. NGC AU-58." Despite the large mintage, this type is scarce. The larger half pagodas attract attention from Latin American collectors as they were made from cut down Spanish colonial portrait dollars. The Madras mint, a facility of the British East India Company, minted pagodas under license from the Mughal emperor since the seventeenth century. This is the first milled type. The assets of the East India Company were transferred to the British government after the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and the mint was closed in 1869.
Recorded mintage: 2,000,000 (including KM-353).
Specification: 21.17 g, silver, 35.5 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-354.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Stevens, Paul, The Coins of the English East India Company, Presidency Series: A Catalogue and Pricelist. London, Spink & Son Ltd, 2017.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, and Kent Ponterio, Ponterio sale 152: The 2010 NYINC Auction, Irvine, CA: Bowers and Merena, 2009.
Link to:
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- return to coins of India, Madras Presidency