Travancore ME1114 1/2 rupee
This specimen was lot 2356 in Stephen Album sale 27 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2017), where it sold for $211.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "TRAVANCORE: Bala Rama Varma II, 1924-1949, AR ½ rupee, ME1114. NGC graded MS65." This one year type is fairly scarce. Travancore was a princely state on the SW tip of India adjacent to the Madras presidency. 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."
Sree 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: unknown.
Specifications: silver.
Catalog reference: KM-64.
- 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 Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 27, featuring the Dr. Paul Stevens Collection of Indian Coins, Part VI, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2016.
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