Travancore ME1107 1/2 rupee
This specimen was lot 733 in Steve Album Auction 55 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2026), where it sold for $1,320. The catalog description[1] noted, "TRAVANCORE: Bala Rama Varma II, 1924-1949, AR 1/2 rupee, ME1107 (1931), a superb mint state example! PCGS graded MS65." This type was struck ME1084-1087 and 1103-07 in the name of Rama Varma VI, who died in 1924. This example realized thirteen times the catalog value. Wikipedia comments,
"Sree Padmanabhadasa Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma GCSI GCIE, popularly known as Sree Chithira Thirunal (1912-91), was the last ruling Maharaja of the Indian princely state of Travancore, in southern India until 1949 and later the Titular Maharajah of Travancore until 1991. His reign is known for several notable reforms that have indelible impact on the society and culture of Kerala."
Chithira Thirunal's most remarkable achievement was a proclamation of 1936 permitting low caste people, previously "untouchable", to enter temples in his domain.
Recorded mintage: 800,000.
Specifications: 5.44 g, 0.950 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-53.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 55, featuring Selections from the Swamperbob Gurney Collection of Cap & Ray 8 Reales, the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins and the 1914 Collection of World Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2026.
Links: