1 Pice coins

[MWM]

I bought these 1 Pice coins from Mumbai exibition. Can anybody please explain the different mints and how to identify them. Harry, can you help in your superb mintage analysis.

[FosseWay]

The key is in the mark, or its absence, below the date. There are also variations in the crowns and text, but these are less reliable as mint indicators as the relationship between crown type and mint varies from year to year.

Top one: Bombay, with diamond mintmark below date, and small PICE and INDIA (tops of the letters are notably lower than the height of the 1). The crown is tall but narrow.

Second: Not sure, because I can't tell in isolation whether that's a large or small dot. The crown is tall and wide, so it's either Bombay if the dot is large or Pretoria if it's small.

Third: No mintmark, so Calcutta. Crown is 'squashed' compared to the previous one.

Fourth: Calcutta again. Crown is of the tall, wide type like the second.

[PeaceBD]

Manoj, all nice looking coins. There are some interesting variations in this series. See Coins of India- Baldwins website for some details and mintages.

[MWM]

@BD, Thanks.
@FosseWay , Thanks. Actually I am confused with 'Pretoria' Mint. All other are including lahore are easy to identify.
rgds,

[FosseWay]

AFAIK Pretoria issues exist for 1943 and 1944, and both have the tall, wide crown and full-height text. The mintmark is a 'small dot' but I find it hard to distinguish this from the 'large dot' used on some Bombay issues. On reflection I suspect yours is Bombay. Here is my 1945 Bombay issue with 'large dot', which can't be anything else (no Pretoria issues in 1945), and the dot looks similar to yours.

[Harry]

The British India KGVI One Pice series is one of those largely neglected series by collectors.  These coins were produced from 1943 to 1947 during which a whooping 1.5 Billion (that Billion with a B!) were produced thus making them relatively common.

Due to severe shortage of circulating coins, in 1943 and 1944 the Pertoria mint in South Africa was contracted by the Bombay mint to produce the 1 Pice coin. Making these coins the first British India Regal circulating coin (1862-1974) to be produced outside of India.  The Pertoria mint used the bead (or dot) as their privy mark probably due to the dies from the Bombay mint.

They were produced in 3 varieties High Crown (HC),  Round Crown (RC) and Flat Crow (FC).  The following image is taken from the Baldwin Catalog of Coins of India

The following are the mintage numbers:

In spite of these coins being largely neglected the series does have one hidden gem, the 1943 1 Pice pattern which is even rarer than the 1939 Rupee as it is possibly unique!  It was part of the Diana Collection and was sold in 2008 for approximately  $12,200! How much it's valued in today's market is anyone's guess.

Sources for my information:
1.   The coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations – Part 4 INDIA. F. Pridmore
2.    Baldwin Catalog of Coins of India Dr. Paul Stevens
3.   Baldwin's Auction #54 catalog – The Diana Collection of Coins of British India

[The Oracle]

The British India KGVI One Pice series is one of those largely neglected series by collectors.  These coins were produced from 1943 to 1947 during which a whooping 1.5 Billion (that Billion with a B!) were produced thus making them relatively common.

Due to severe shortage of circulating coins, in 1943 and 1944 the Pertoria mint in South Africa was contracted by the Bombay mint to produce the 1 Pice coin. Making these coins the first British India Regal circulating coin (1862-1974) to be produced outside of India.  The Pertoria mint used the bead (or dot) as their privy mark probably due to the dies from the Bombay mint.

They were produced in 3 varieties High Crown (HC),  Round Crown (RC) and Flat Crow (FC).  The following image is taken from the Baldwin Catalog of Coins of India

The following are the mintage numbers:

In spite of these coins being largely neglected the series does have one hidden gem, the 1943 1 Pice pattern which is even rarer than the 1939 Rupee as it is possibly unique!  It was part of the Diana Collection and was sold in 2008 for approximately  $12,200! How much it's valued in today's market is anyone's guess.

Sources for my information:
1.   The coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations – Part 4 INDIA. F. Pridmore
2.    Baldwin Catalog of Coins of India Dr. Paul Stevens
3.   Baldwin's Auction #54 catalog – The Diana Collection of Coins of British India

the diana collection was the best numismatic event during my time.  i still remember it fondly.  too bad that not even a single coin from it is affordable for most people.  even the catalog is expensive these days. 

[Vivek]

Excellent information Harry as usual!!
Can we have separate topic to combine all information put by Harry for Mintage details? It will good reference for all regarding Mintage/Rare/Mints for coins.
Vivek

[Harry]

Excellent information Harry as usual!!

Vivek, thanks for your appreciation.  However, honestly there is nothing special that I do for the mintage numbers. The mintage numbers are very easy to get. They are available from Baldwin Catalog of Coins of India.  I just cut and past the data into an excel sheet, then off course clean it up and create a table - then generate a graph in excel.  This can be done by anyone and I feel viewing a graph gives you a stronger sense of the relative mintages!  As they say "A picture is worth a thousand words" or in this case a thousand numbers!

One caution about BI mintage - although in general the lower the mintage number the rarer the coin. However, I have found that BI has many exceptions to this rule.  The other thing that mintage numbers don't convey is survival rates especially for a collector like me who is interested in Unc coins. Certain coins are just very hard to get in Unc even though they have very large mintage numbers - these coins tend to have a very high circulation rate. For example the  1943 or 1947 Rupee circulated very heavily as such a Choice BU coins are very hard to find however, you can get these coins in EF quite easily.

Today we hear a lot about BI coins in terms of its scarcity and condition, don't get me wrong I love scarce and high grade coins, but I love to hear about its history and conditions around the coins. Which is why I find F. Pridmore's book very very interesting. I think there is potential for a lot of research in this area and hope collectors and numismatists share their findings. 

the diana collection was the best numismatic event during my time.  i still remember it fondly....

Yes I agree with you. To borrow a phrase from Bhushan, I too was "too late to that party!" as  I stopped collecting BI from 2000-2011. I'm happy to be back!

[Vivek]

I just cut and past the data into an excel sheet, then off course clean it up and create a table - then generate a graph in excel.  This can be done by anyone and I feel viewing a graph gives you a stronger sense of the relative mintages!  As they say "A picture is worth a thousand words" or in this case a thousand numbers!

As they say "A picture is worth a thousand words" or in this case a thousand numbers!
Very true...many of us had mintage details but viewing in graph format makes understanding things very easy...
Thanks for your efforts..hope to see many more graphs in future.
Vivek

[SantoshK]

agree with vivek....
no matter there are lot of things available
but ur takeing efforts keep us update and informed and that is imp harry sir
hope in furure also we get the same info...
once again thanks a lot for the work u r doing from time to time .
:

[$$]

Hi Harry

Really you provide valuable knowldege and information.

Can you provide details about Edward VII Coins.

Thanks in advance
Samir

[The Oracle]

yes a few more presentations Harry and i will make you an offer you cant refuse

[Harry]

Thanks guys! I enjoy doing some basic research and writing a short note on these coins. I love to learn about BI Uniform coinage and especially enjoy seeing what other collectors have. So please continue to share your collection.

Can you provide details about Edward VII Coins.

Samir, what would you like to know about Edward VII coins? Edward coinage is really nice to collect due to its short series however they are getting quite scarce in Unc now. Also a number of Edward patterns were produced which make things even more interesting. Although they are now highly sought after by collectors these days and hence extremely expensive.

[$$]

Thanks Harry

Just wanted to know the issues and mintage year wise.

Samir

Samir, what would you like to know about Edward VII coins? Edward coinage is really nice to collect due to its short series however they are getting quite scarce in Unc now. Also a number of Edward patterns were produced which make things even more interesting. Although they are now highly sought after by collectors these days and hence extremely expensive.
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