sachin puri

GEORGE VI COINS (1938-1947)
After the death of King George V his son, who would have been King Edward VIII, abdicated before the coronation. No coins were minted using his portrait. His brother the Duke of York was crowned King George VI in May 1937 and the first coin of India with his effigy was minted in 1938.

Half Silver Coins ?
After the price of silver started going up after the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the practice of hoarding silver coins became common. This led to reducing the use of silver in coins. The 1940 1/4-Rupee, 1/2-Rupee and One Rupee coins were reduced from 0.917 silver to 0.500 silver (there were a limited number of 1939 Rupees minted in 0.500 silver). Though not listed by Krause, D. Chakravarty reports 1940 1/4 Rupees exists in the earlier 0.917 silver version also.



One Rupee (1938-1947)
Y-57/57a/60 KM-555/556/557/557a/559

The Rupee was minted in Calcutta, Bombay and Lahore in 0.917 silver, 0.500 silver and Nickel with a reeded edge and later a security edge. There is no mint mark for Calcutta. The Bombay issues have a small dot or diamond on the reverse under the ornate (the lotus flower) near the bottom of the coin . The Lahore mint used a small "L" in the same position. When the composition switched to Nickel in 1947 a completely different reverse (an Indian tiger) was introduced.

The 1939 Rupee is one of the most rare and expensive Silver coins of the British India Period