British India King George VI Half Anna (1940-1947)

[Harry]

This post was created by a fellow WOC member  @josephjk (Joseph) and myself.  Except for the patterns, all the coins shown shown here are part of Joseph's personal collection. 

The King George VI half anna series (1940-1947) is probably the most disregarded series by many collectors but a closer look reveals, like most British India coins, it has its own rarities and unresolved questions.

The coin was designed by A P Spencer the chief engraver of the Calcutta mint. In 1938 he produced a pattern using the lozenges shape (square) borrowed from the 1921 1 Anna pattern. This 1938 half anna pattern was intended for the new King but Spencer used George V’s bust on the obv as George VI bust was not available at that time.  It is believed that only 4 such coins were produced by the Calcutta mint. 

The final design was achieved by combining the design of the 1938 ½ Anna pattern and 1908 ½ Anna pattern.  It was not until a few years later under a lot of pressure for a half anna coin did the Government sanction the coin for production.  In 1942 the new half anna coin was produced for general circulation. These coins were produced in Nickel Brass from 1942 to 1945 (gold color) and Copper Nickel from 1946 to 1947 (silver color).  There are restrikes issued in copper-nickel and Gold dated 1940,  these were probably made for collectors in the 60s.

1946C ½ Anna (copper-nickel)



1942B ½ Anna (nickel-brass)

What’s interesting about this new design was that the English denomination was marked as ½ Anna but in all the other languages (Hindi, Urdu, Telugu and Bengali ) it translates to 2 pice (in Hindi “Do Paisa”). 


Mintmarks / Identifiers

For NiBr coins (1942-1945):

For copper-nickel coins (1946-1947):

They all have a dot on each side of the word INDIA

Die test marks

Die test marks are found on some King George VI coins produced by the Bombay and Lahore mint.  A thin tool with a diamond head was hammered into the die thus producing a small pyramid shape on the coin. These marks are typically found on the right of the King’s head but may also be  present on the reverse.

Bombay and Lahore mints

Die test mark (found on some Bombay & Lahore coins)

One of the most interesting coin of this series is the 1946 from the Lahore mint.   Pridmore states that the Lahore mint produced 50 million ½ Anna coins, Calcutta mint produced 75 million and the Bombay mint produced 49 million. However both the Lahore mint and Calcutta mint did not have any mint mark to differentiate the originating mints. Pridmore speculates that the only way to distinguish a 1946 Lahore mint coin from a Calcutta mint would be from the die test marks that were present on some coins produced by the Lahore mint would have.

Die test marks present on the obverse and
reverse of a 1946 Bombay mint half anna.

Currently no  1946 ½ Anna can be attributed positively to the Lahore mint.  These would probably be a 1946 ½ anna without the dot in the dashes and with a die test mark.  The bigger question is did the Lahore mint produce a 1946 ½ Anna coin?

[Figleaf]

Great article! Thanks. I wonder where you found the illustrations of the patterns.

I have read about the Calcutta mint using small and large dot mintmarks in this series. Is this for real, or just a question of weak strikes and filled dies?

You seem to treat the 1940 cu-ni proofs as a circulation issue and part of the series. Wouldn't it rather be a restrike with old dies?

Peter

[Pabitra]

NiBr normally stands for Nickel Bronze and sometimes for Nickel Brass.

It is first time I have heard this as Nickel Bromide. Kindly confirm.

[Harry]

I have read about the Calcutta mint using small and large dot mintmarks in this series. Is this for real, or just a question of weak strikes and filled dies?

You seem to treat the 1940 cu-ni proofs as a circulation issue and part of the series. Wouldn't it rather be a restrike with old dies?

Thanks Peter.  I have not hear about the small and large dot mintmarks, maybe others could comment on this. It could be quite an interesting section to add to this discussion.

I do not think the 1940 copper-nickel Proofs are part of the circulation issue. Initially the dates for this article was 1942-47, but I added 1940 just for completeness.  As you know there were some proofs and OMS strikes made in 1940 but no currency strikes.  The first KGVI 1/2 Anna for circulation was the NiBr coin of 1942.

NiBr normally stands for Nickel Bronze and sometimes for Nickel Brass.

It is first time I have heard this as Nickel Bromide. Kindly confirm.

Thanks Pabitra. My mistake, it should be NiBr should be Nickel Brass (ref: Pridmore). I will correct my original post.

[Harry]

I wonder where you found the illustrations of the patterns.

The illustrations of the patterns are used with permission from Dr. Paul Stevens and Baldwins www.baldwin.co.uk . The pattern coins were part of the David Fore collection.

[Figleaf]

As you know there were some proofs and OMS strikes made in 1940 but no currency strikes.

AFAIK, the 1940 cu-ni proofs were struck with original dies, probably in the 1960's on demand of collectors.

Peter

[Harry]

AFAIK, the 1940 cu-ni proofs were struck with original dies, probably in the 1960's on demand of collectors.

Thanks Peter, yes it does seem like the 1940 issues were restrikes and I will correct the post.

[sailor]

Hi all,

I have recently come across a 1947 1/2 anna from Lahore mint with the same die test marks. Posting the photo of the coin not a very good scan  .

Cheers
Gaurav

[@josephjk]

 

Good eye Sailor!

[sailor]

Thank you Josephjk 

[Harry]

I have recently come across a 1947 1/2 anna from Lahore mint with the same die test marks. Posting the photo of the coin not a very good scan  .

Quite interesting. According to Pridmore - the 1947 1/2 anna was only issued by Bombay (Pr 992A)  and Calcutta (Pr 922) without any mint marks. So most 1947 coins cannot be differentiated between B and C.  Some 1947 1/2 Anna dies in Bombay had test marks, which is what you have and that is the only way to identify the B mint coins.  It cannot be from Lahore as Lahore did issue the 1/2 anna coin in 1947 but with a 1946 date.  So  what you have is a 1947 1/2 anna Bombay mint (Pr 992A).

Nice find!

[@josephjk]

Thanks Harry, good to know! So the bombay mint mark was only on the 1946 coin?

[Harry]

Yes that is correct. The 1946 Bombay mint mark is the "dot between the dash" near the date. Lahore and Calcutta had no mint mark, i.e. no dot between the dash, just the dash near the date.  Its not possible to differentiate a 1946L and 1946C. Except for a possible die test mark, which so far has none been reported. 

[sailor]

Thanks for the clarification Harry. 

[@josephjk]

For the 1946 & 1947 1/2 annas KM has two subtypes...KM 535.1 (2.87 grams) & KM 535.2 (2.9 grams)

I cannot tell the difference between the two except a very minor difference in weight.. 

http://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/india-british-12-anna-km-5351-1946-1947-cuid-52707-duid-142865

http://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/india-british-12-anna-km-5352-1946-1947-cuid-52708-duid-142868

Are there other differences?