The Puddester Collection

The Uniform Coinage of India, British Imperial Period, George V, gold Sovereign, 1918i, Bombay, bust left, b.m. [Bertram Mackennal] on truncation, georgivs v d . g . britt : omn : rex f . d . ind : imp : around [George V by the grace of God, King of all the Britons, defender of the faith, Emperor of India], rev. St George on horseback right, slaying a dragon, wwp [William Wellesley Pole] on exergue line at left, b.p. [Benedetto Pistrucci] in exergue with date, edge grained, 8.00g/12h (Prid. 27 [not in Sale]; SW 8.5; Hill 228; Bull 1915; KM. 525A; F 1609; cf. Fore III, 2478). Brilliant mint state £300-£400

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Puddester Collection.

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Owner’s envelope.

The Royal Mint facility within the Bombay mint compound was headed by James Thomas Becklake (1880-1965), previously in charge of the cutting room at the Royal Mint in London, and Raoul Robellaz Kahan (1883-1952), seconded from the assay department at the Perth mint in Australia. Despite the difficulties caused by the Spanish influenza pandemic in the city, which Kahan caught and caused him to be off work for five weeks, the branch mint struck a total of 1,296,033 sovereigns between 15 August and 6 December. Staffing problems led to the closure of it in April 1919, but not before it had additionally coined almost two million half-rupees and a large quantity of cupro-nickel 1 annas in the early months of that year; the building, known today as Mint House, still stands. Further background to the issue was published by Howard Hodgson (Coin News, July-August 2021); a copy of Hodgson’s detailed article is sold with the lot