Do you have a collecting goal for British India coins? If so please do share it!

[repindia]

I do not expect to add much to my Uniform Coinage set this year. if this could be called a collecting goal then I resolved to sell off all my doubles and to put the money in buying the Presidency series coins. There are too many doubles I am having and they take up a lot of space and are locking up a lot of my money which otherwise would go in buying other stuff.

I have been working on getting a set of Presidency coins for all types listed by Pridmore. I know it is an impossible task but that is the fun part of it. This excludes proofs, patterns and gold and only circulation strikes. Even in the circulation strikes there are many I simply cannot add but I have got time to do it.

[repindia]

1) Rupee coins from each colonial power that issued them in Unc grade (must be a rupee or rupia). (French and Dutch left, maybe to be expanded to have a rupee coin from every state that used a rupee/rupia)

I met one gentleman at a coin show in Pune in 2001 who told me he was collecting every type of Rupee ever issued. A daunting goal but he was a well heeled collector and had already acquired a lot of them. I wish I had taken his contact information and kept in touch to see how the collection is doing now. If anyone knows whom I am talking about please do contact me and send me his contacts. Thanks!

[repindia]

Over the last few months I've decided to focus on a few areas as I find myself chasing too many coins with too little money :-( .

Tell that to me!

1.   Complete my 1862 series in Unc [1 left 1862 1/12 Anna]
2.   1912 series – 1/12 Anna to 1 Rupee in gem Unc. [1/2 Pice, ¼, ½ and 1 Rupee remains]
3.   Edward 1 Anna (1907-1910)  coins in Unc.  [1910 1 Anna remains]
4.   1875 silver series in Unc – this is my dream set.  I have the 2 Anna and 1 Rupee. I think the ½ Rupee  in Unc could be a show stopper for me

The 1862 series is easy to complete. I would love to see pictures of your Edward 1 anna series. I have completed one in UNC-- all graded and was happy to get all these. Now to upgrade a couple of these. :-)
I am wondering why you chose the date 1912. Do you plan to do the series mint wise also? This is certainly tough in gem grades but not impossible.
The 1875 series is easier than you can imagine-- you just have to be patient as I was. :-)

[repindia]

Anyone have a 1909 1/4 anna in UNC ?

I will pay you $100 more than what @brokencompass is offering. 
Seriously I found it impossible to get in other than proof strike. I am looking for this one too. I think my chances of hitting the jackpot are better than getting this coin. 

[repindia]

@dheer -Quite interesting! Can you ask your friend to join WOC and participate in the forums, we would love to hear from him!  If I had to guess, I would say he is missing a 1911 ½ Rupee, I think that is the rarest regular business strike coin in BI Uniform coinage.   The last 5% of a set is always the toughest to get.  Which is where I am with my BI Uniform coinage type set.

I agree. Please pass him on my contact information since I would love to correspond with him. I think he already would have a 1911 1/2 Rupee. I have seen many on the market and if money is no object then it can be had. I myself had multiple chances to purchase this example but declined since I wanted one in BU grade. Now I don't know if I would be able to due to the prices which have reached the stratosphere but no regrets.

[repindia]

Off-topic here but I had a goal to purchase a Princely States coin in high graded and did achieve it at the start of the year. Now to find out who bid me up on that one. 

[brokencompass]

Off-topic here but I had a goal to purchase a Princely States coin in high graded and did achieve it at the start of the year. Now to find out who bid me up on that one. 

Which princely state coin would that be?

[repindia]

Which princely state coin would that be?

The coin is in transit and would let you know once in my hand. If you monitor major auctions then would be easy to find out what I am talking about. 

[brokencompass]

Ah! DS JB? SB?

[zwiggy]

Ah! DS JB? SB?

!! Was that you? I bid up the the quartet set on that and lost.

[brokencompass]

So we are all on the same page  . I am talking about the two Below coins.

http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=231301&lotNo=63077
http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=231301&lotNo=63078

[Harry]

Tell that to me! The 1862 series is easy to complete. I would love to see pictures of your Edward 1 anna series. I have completed one in UNC-- all graded and was happy to get all these. Now to upgrade a couple of these. :-)
I am wondering why you chose the date 1912. Do you plan to do the series mint wise also? This is certainly tough in gem grades but not impossible.
The 1875 series is easier than you can imagine-- you just have to be patient as I was. :-)

Wow nice 1875 half Rupee! I think these are extremely hard to come by these days.  You say that the 1862 series is easy to complete but I have the 1/12 Anna remaining. It shouldn't be that hard but I haven't found a choice unc 1862 1/12 Anna for over 1.5 years! Odd.

I chose the 1912 date in gem (as in MS65) as I already had 2 MS65 1912 coins and so I decided to see if I can get the full set in MS65. As for the Edward 1 Anna, I just love the 1 Anna coins and I need to get the 1910 1 Anna in Unc to complete the set. I'll definitely post pictures of the set once its done - short set of 4 coins.

for the 2 annas i am missing coins for some mints in the 1874-1883 period and 1909.
....Quarter rupees would have been great but most getting most of QV quarters in good grades is expensive these days.

Anand - why is the 1909 1/4 Anna and the 1909 2 Anna so rare? The 1909 1/4 from what I hear is extremely rear in Unc. Yes QV (Empress) quarters are tough to get in Unc, I waited for a long time before I got two this summer and over the past 2 months I've seen a number of them on ebay. However, they are scarce in Unc.

Here is my missing ones.
1876, 1881, 1883, 1897, 1911, 1921, 1922, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1947.

I have excluded 1862 dot variety. Long list of missing na?

Islam - the 1940s should be quite easy to get.  The tougher ones would be 1911, 1921, 1922, and off course 1939, although KGV coins in VF-XF would not be very hard. Keep at it!

Thanks Harry!  I do include gold, as long as they are affordable.  I am particularly proud of my representative Bombay Presidency gold set, and also some my Bengal and Madras mohurs (see my avatar!). 
...

I am not a big fan of restrikes, but will pick them up if I get a good deal.  However, I would prefer to divert money towards Unc circulation strikes to save more money for coins I don't have. 

Yes your Bombay Presidency gold set is quite impressive.  I only have one BI gold coin in my collection, I have tended to stay away from them due to their price. Although I would love to get hold of one the 1918 15 Rupee... some day!

I'm with you on the restrikes, definitely not a fan would rather get a business strike any day.

It does not include a Mughal, even though I have a mughal (Shah Alam II) rupee in Unc. I have Mughals in my list of the expanded set - i.e. collect a rupee from every state/dynasty that issued a rupee. I am having a tough time finding a Dutch rupee in Unc, expensive and they rarely come up for sale.

The 37 years gives me till 2050 to collect - just a nice round number . It also reminds me that I don't have to spend all my money on coins just now!

You have nice collecting goals - I love the idea of doing just typesets since I love different designs over collecting the same design over and over. (Of course, to each their own) I notice you have the aim of typesets for Victoria and George V. Any plans to do the others?

@zwiggy - first, its nice to see you post on this forum, please continue to do so. I've been a member since Sep 2011 and have loved it!

The reason I'm working on series is because my original goal of completing a British India Uniform set (1835-1947) has come to a screeching halt... I've hit a big wall! The 1877 1/2 Anna Unc wall!  If you exclude the 1911 series I'm about 4 coins away  -  1877 1/2 Anna, 1843 1/2 Anna, 1938 Rupee,  1862 1/12 Anna.  However, I'll never get the 1911 series in Unc so I've decide to focus on shorter series.   I do like Edward coins so, I'm focusing on the 1 Anna and will later pick a date and complete on set of Edwards, probably 1907 in Unc. 

[zwiggy]

So we are all on the same page  . I am talking about the two Below coins.

http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=231301&lotNo=63077
http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=231301&lotNo=63078

Yup - same page, I never knew Dewas coins were to tough to find until I saw what those two sold at. I was bidding on the 4 jodhpur coins in the same auction. Its funny that I guess most of the people we bid against are probably on this forum

@Harry, thanks - I shall continue posting! I am a longtime lurker since whenever one googles Indian coins, inevitably a link ends up on this fourm. Good luck on that uniform coin set! How come the 1877 1/2 anna is so tough to get?

@cmerc - that is a great collection of gold you have there! I agree with you on the restrikes, not only are they overly expensive, but some of them look quite unattractive (they look funny especially the gold, can't describe it but they almost look fake)

[Surender]

I collect BI Uniform Coinage Rupee, Half Rupee, 1/4 Anna and 1/2 Pice.

2013 I plan on collecting the missing 1/4 Anna and 1/2 Pice and replacing the ones which i have with higher grades.

I have the common coins in high grades and there are too many coins which are missing. I plan on adding 1 or 2 of those missing ones per month.

Hopefully next year I will spend my time following Rupee and Half Rupees.

[anand]

Anand - why is the 1909 1/4 Anna and the 1909 2 Anna so rare? The 1909 1/4 from what I hear is extremely rear in Unc. Yes QV (Empress) quarters are tough to get in Unc, I waited for a long time before I got two this summer and over the past 2 months I've seen a number of them on ebay. However, they are scarce in Unc.

not sure what the reason is but the few times i have seen either of these come out and be sold for very high price. mintage numbers dont suggest a very big difference from others years, it seems like some with the date. i have noticed even the rupee and half are the 'key date' in Edward series.

The reason I'm working on series is because my original goal of completing a British India Uniform set (1835-1947) has come to a screeching halt... I've hit a big wall! The 1877 1/2 Anna Unc wall!  If you exclude the 1911 series I'm about 4 coins away  -  1877 1/2 Anna, 1843 1/2 Anna, 1938 Rupee,  1862 1/12 Anna.  However, I'll never get the 1911 series in Unc so I've decide to focus on shorter series.   I do like Edward coins so, I'm focusing on the 1 Anna and will later pick a date and complete on set of Edwards, probably 1907 in Unc.

recently i have seen quite a few 1938 rupees coming up for sale, you could probably knock that off. apart from the 1877 1/2 anna, i felt the other two also can be acquired with a little patience. (not that i have them either )