William IIII Silver Rupee of 1835 - Thick and Thin Letters

[Abhay]

Does William IIII has rupee of 1840? or it is 1835?

OOps!! My mistake.

It should be 1835. Corrected the topic heading accordingly.

Abhay

[Md. Shariful Islam]

OOps!! My mistake.

It should be 1835. Corrected the topic heading accordingly.

Abhay

That's not that serious. We understand, that's a mistake. But I have uploaded two images. Are they correctly identified as thick and thin?

[The Oracle]

My view of KM is very different, KM was my main source of information when I started collecting coins back in the 90s. I built the core of my British India and world coins using KM so I have a lot of respect for the book.  Today I use Pridmore and now more and more SW,  for the same reason Abhay pointed out, SW has made identifying varieties of Uniform coinage much easier with the use of clear photo graphs and also at times new approaches.

Using size as a way to identify a variety is very difficult, and I would argue impractical, as size is relative and so one needs to compare it with another coin.   That is why we see so much of confusion in identifying for example, KGVI small head vs large head,  and for the 1945 Large 5 vs Small 5.   This is also why figuring out the Indian head vs English head in the 1840 rupee has been so difficult for collectors as its traditionally been defined as the neck is thicker or the noise is pointier – both measures require two coins.  What SW has attempted to do is to find a way to identify a variety independently.   Hence they came up with the distance from the rim to the point on the bust, 1mm=Indian head , 2mm=English head. Distance is not relative, its absolute and therefore easier to work with when you have just one coin.

Similarly, for the "Thin" lettering of the 1835 Rupee, if you say that the L is thinner or thicker, to me that doesn't really solve the problem and an alternative way needs to be found.  If you are saying that the shape of the downstroke of the letter L is different , that is very interesting.  So does the thin lettering have a pointed end on the letter L vs a flat one for the think as marked? Is this a way to distinguish the thin lettering from the thick/normal lettering?  I have my doubts but I'm just asking.

It is very natural to have different experiences and that makes the hobby more interesting.  Personally,  I was lucky enough to see many thousands of British India coins in hand and even more fortunate to learn to identify and come up with my own attribution system.  Then when i eventually saw a KM i had more than what they had so the book was of no use to me.  Pridmore was a lot more fun and it was great to find something once in a while that was unlisted.  Thankfully there were no money considerations in my time as coins were very cheap.  You could get british india uncirculated coins for 75-80 Rupees in bulk.  I still distinctly remember the conversation when the prices touched 100 rupees that the coins had become expensive 

i still get to see a lot of british india coins these days even though i am not buying selling.  Occasionally i get tempted to start collecting but then ultimately better sense prevails. 

[sekharkausik]

RS incuse comes in two varieties : Thin letters and Medium letters. I am posting a comparitive picture below.

[sekharkausik]

And "F" raised and incuse comes in thick letters

[Harry]

Shekhar,

Thanks for posting these pictures, I think it is quite clear that your coins show the different styles - thin, medium and thick lettering found on the 1835 Rupee. 

Based on your pictures it does look like Abhay's coin is not the thin lettering but the medium.  Also I have tried to see if there is a way to identify the thin lettering independently without comparing the "size" with another coin. One way would be if you draw an imaginary line down the back of the King's neck down towards the letter I, in the medium and think lettering the bottom of the I will touch that line but the for the thin lettering the I is a little off.  See the picture below.

Shekhar your willingness to share the different varieties of your British India coins is much appreciated.

Harry

[sekharkausik]

Dear Harry,

You have done a good job in illustrating the differences in the letters in the coins. This thought never entered my mind. This thin letters variety is a dicey thing. Many a times I have mistaken the medium letters for thin letters. Only by examining a large quantity of different coins one can really have a catch on the thin letters variety.

Sekhar Kausik