Madras 1794 1/96 rupee
This specimen was lot 33263 in Heritage sale 3064 (Chicago, April 2018), where it sold for $432. The catalog description[1] noted, "British India. Madras Presidency Proof 1/96 Rupee 1794 PR64+ Brown PCGS, Soho mint. United East India Company. Just a whisper short of gem status. The piece demonstrates chocolate brown surfaces with well-contrasted devices." The Madras mint, a facility of the British East India Company, minted pagodas under license from the Mughal emperor since the seventeenth century. 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. This copper coin is a product of the Boulton and Watt mint in England and is common. As Soho retained the dies after fulfilling the contract, restrikes were made in several compositions for decades afterward.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.67 g, copper, 24.5 mm diameter, lettered edge.
Catalog reference: KM 392, KM 392a (gilt copper), KM 392b (gold), KM 392c (bronze), KM 393 (mule of KM 392 with KM 397 of 1797, shown here).
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach and Warren Tucker, Heritage World Coin Auction 3064, featuring the Doug Robins Collection of Canadian Tokens, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2018.
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