Note: Offered here is a complete set of four silver coins from The Madras Presidency Rupee, Half Rupee, Quarter Rupee, and the Extremely Rare Coin The Eighth Rupee, all bearing the date AH 1172/6 and struck in the distinctive milled oblique style. This UNIQUE fabric mirrors the patterns used for silver denominations such as the Half Pagoda, Quarter Pagoda, Five Fanams, Double Fanams, and Fanam, all produced during the same period.

According to F. Pridmore, following the improvements made to Bengal’s currency and the successful adoption of European-style minting, the Madras Council commissioned a committee to modernize their own mint. Their report, dated 20 February 1799, recommended adopting some provisions from Bengal’s Regulation 35 of 1793 and emphasized the use of milled impressions through better die production.

The turning point came in March 1806, when orders were issued to build a new mint at Black Town. State-of-the-art machinery from Calcutta was installed, and coinage modeled on European standards began in April 1807 with copper issues, followed by silver in June. The New gold coinage in this style started in April 1808.

On 15 July 1807, a proclamation gave legal currency to a new series of silver coins: Double Rupee, Rupee, Half Rupee, Quarter Rupee, and silver fanams. These coins were to be struck directly from imported Spanish Dollars. Another proclamation dated 22 August 1807 introduced Half and Quarter Pagodas in oblique milling style, akin to Bengal issues.

The Rupee was standardized at 186.70 troy grains with a fineness of 166.48, and fractional denominations were minted accordingly. Although the official records initially mentioned only four denominations, the Eighth Rupee was introduced in November 1807 and is confirmed in a subsequent proclamation dated 28 November 1807.

An interesting numismatic feature of these coins is the presence of a minute dot (privy mark) on the Rupee and its lower denominations, identifying the dies as originally prepared at the Calcutta Mint, corroborated by a letter from the Mint Master dated 6 May 1806. However, this mark is lacking on the Double Rupee, indicating it was struck using dies locally produced at the Madras Mint.

Coin Specifications:

Rupee: AH 1172/6, milled oblique, mintage: 2,144,806, diameter: 28.0 mm
Half Rupee: AH 1172/6, milled oblique, mintage: 108,180, diameter: 22.0 mm
Quarter Rupee: AH 1172/6, milled oblique, mintage: 18,216, diameter: 16.5 mm
Eighth Rupee: AH 1172/6, milled oblique, mintage: 20,046, diameter: 16.5 mm

The Quarter Rupee and the Eight Rupee were nearly identical in size, leading to confusion in circulation. Consequently, both denominations failed to gain public acceptance and were withdrawn and melted down shortly after issue.

The Quarter Rupee is Exceedingly Rare, while the Eight Rupee is Excessively Rare, fewer than THREE known examples are believed to have survived. This offering represents a truly significant opportunity to acquire a complete set, with the Eight Rupee as its CROWN JEWEL, embodying the transformation of Madras Coinage during a pivotal moment in colonial monetary history.

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