Know your India: Coins of Kutch – 5 Kori VS 1932/1875 AD


 

Know your India: Coins of Kutch – 5 Kori VS 1932/1875 AD

The 5 kori silver coin was heavier than the 1 rupee silver coin used in British India – and was accordingly pegged at 1 rupee, 5 annas and 1 pie. The 5 kori coin minted in 1875 was the last such coin to be minted in the name of Pragmalji II, the Jadeja Rajput ruler of Kutch – whose reign lasted from 1860-1875. The reverse of the coin also carries the name of Queen Victoria – this practice lasted till 1947.

There are some features common to all coins of Kutch:

1.       A daggar (katar), crescent and trident (trishul) are there on all coins of Kutch. In this particular coin, the crescent is closed. In many of the later coins, it is an open crescent.

2.       The front of the coin carries the name of the King in devnagari script and the year in Vikram samvat. The reverse carries the name of the British ruler and the year according to the Christian calendar – in Persian. Up to 1860, the coins carried the name of the Mughal emperor – after this year, coins were issued in name of the British ruler.

Coins of Kutch should be of interest to a collector because:

1.       Rarity: Compared to British India coins, coins of Kutch are much rarer – but still affordable.

2.       Design: These are milled coins, so they are uniform (to an extent) with an intricate design. Over the years, there are variations by year, ruler and occasional changes of pattern.

About Cutch Princely State

The Kutch (spelled as Cutch earlier) Princely state was based out of present day Kutch region of Gujarat. Excluding the Rann of Kutch, the state had an area of 7,616 square miles – or 19,725 square kilometers. The population was less than half million in 1901, placing it among the mid-sized princely states. The ruler of Kutch was entitled to a 17-gun salute. Kutch was one of the few princely states with its own coastline.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dot Coins: 1862

Image
  Dot Coins: 1862 From 1862 to 1874, the year on silver rupees was frozen to 1862. These coins were minted at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras mints. Of these three, the Bombay Mint adopted a system of dots – dies were specially marked with tiny dots to mark the year of manufacture. Thus, one dot meant the coin was minted in 1863 (1862 + 1) while 11 dots meant the coin was minted in 1873. Dots in these coins are placed on two locations
Read more

Jai Hind kori

Image
  The Jai Hind kori was a 1 kori silver coin issued by the Princely State of Kutch in 1947 (Vikram Samvat 1947) on India’s independence, with the words ‘Jai Hind’ in devnagri on the reverse. This was issued in the name of Madansinhji, the ruler of Kutch at the time. This coin makes a break from earlier coins of Kutch in two ways. First, the previous coins of Kutch (from 1857-1947) carried the name of the British ruler on the reverse (Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI). This coins says ‘Jai Hind’ instead – signifying the shift of sovereignty. Second, the reverse of coin used Urdu script, in the Jai-Hind Kori, ‘Jai-Hind’ is written in Devnagari script. Other than that, this coin follows the pattern of other 1 Kori coins in weight, size and design.  
Read more

The Half Anna

Image
  The anna, together with the rupee and the paisa, formed the basis of the Indian currency system (1 Rupee = 16 anna = 64 paisa) till 1957. Higher denomination coins such as the rupee, half rupee were minted in silver while lower value coins such as one-quarter anna (1 paisa), 1/12 anna (one pie) or ½ pice were minted in copper and bronze. The half anna (1/32 rupee or 2 paisa) was the highest of these lower value copper/bronze coins. Half Anna, 1835, East India Company The first pan-India half anna coin was introduced in 1835 by the East India Company – this was a large coin about 30 mm in diameter and 12.95 grams in weight – slightly larger than the silver rupee and the largest coin in mainstream circulation. The obverse carried the coat of arms of the East India Company – two lions holding a shield with St. George’s Cross in between, with the date below and a Latin inscription underneath. These coins were minted in Bombay and Calcutta mints. Half Anna, 1862, British India Afte...
Read more