PREVIEW: COINS & HISTORICAL MEDALS: 6-7 FEBRUARY

Once the Coinage Act of 1835 introduced a uniform currency across India under British rule, new coins carried the effigy of King William IV on the obverse, with the monarch’s head changing with the line of succession, up to and including George VI.

Restrikes – some for presentation purposes – became part of that new tradition and are much sought after by collectors for their rarity and crispness of condition. This catalogue presents a series of 14 such Rupee restrikes, which together carry a high estimate of £126,000.

Pre-eminent among them are two examples: one for William IV, the other for George VI. That for William is a posthumous mule Restrike Proof Rupee, dated 1840, about as struck in condition, While the George VI coin is a Restrike Pattern Rupee from 1937 also about as struck. Each is guided at £15,000-18,000.

A George V Restrike Proof Rupee, dated 1935 and about as struck, comes estimate at £10,000-12,000, while another mule Restrike Pattern Rupee for William IV, this one dated 1835, and also about as struck, is expected to fetch £8,000-10,000.

The same estimate applies to four other Restrike Pattern and Proof examples for Edward VII, as well as to a 1936 Restrike Proof Rupee for George V.