2) VICTORIA COINS WHEN SHE WAS QUEEN AND AFTERWARDS EMPRESS OF INDIA

QUEEN /EMPRESS VICTORIA

^{Victoria was crowned Queen upon the death of her Uncle the King William IV on 20th June 1838 at the age of eighteen. The earlier British India coins depict her as Queen Victoria , whereas after her son Edward’s visit to the Indian sub-continent, the tour was so popular , that the British Parliament conferred the title of Empress of India upon her in May 1876 after the Mughal Emperor was deposed by the East India Company and the Company itself was dissolved. The formal proclamation took place in the Delhi Durbar in 1877. She was the longest reigning British ruler at the time of her death on 22nd January 1901.  In 1875, when her son Edward was visiting India, it was widely believed by the British India authorities that Queen Victoria would also come for a tour of the Indian sub-continent , a visit that did not materialise.} 

^{To beat the summer-heat in India, they had a guest house constructed at  Mussoorie , a hill station in North India ,fondly called the "Queen of the Hills", the same year , in anticipation of her visit. This heritage building, now is owned by the State Bank of India. A unique feature of this building is that the railing on the first floor has intricate symbols which still show prominent indications of her ,then, proposed visit more than 135 years ago.}

 

 ^{The guest house which now houses the State Bank of India, Mussoorie branch. On the railing on the first floor, on the extreme right hand corner is the symbol "V" (for Victoria). The person at the foot of the steps , is me looking quite ancient and exhausted from my explorations of the hill-station.}

^{The crown on a portion of the railing indicating, that,  this is the Royal residence of Queen Victoria.}

 ^{Intricate design on the railing, showing, the faces of Angels, both above and below the round wheel designs, perhaps indicative of the gentle nature of the Queen.}

While Queen Victoria’s effigy appeared on the British India coins soon after her coronation, the Standard coinage issued by the East India Company under “the Coinage Act” , depicting East India Company Standards and markings also continued till 1862,  much after the Company had been taken over by the Crown.

In 1862, coins were introduced called the “Regal issues” with the portrait of Queen Victoria on the Obverse and the designation “India” on the reverse with the denomination of the Coin. No other language than English was used.

The first coin which I have in my collection and I have shown here  is one of the first issues in 1862 under the above dispensation and is a half anna Copper coin while my remaining 4 Victoria coins mentioned above are one quarter anna coins dated  1883, 1888, 1890 and 1896 in all of which she is mentioned as Empress. These are all copper coins. Other copper coin issues were in the denomination of 1/12 annas and 1/2 pice which I did have at some point of time, before I became a serious collector, but I may have discarded them as worthless/redundant currency.

In addition to copper coins , 2 annas , ¼, and 1 rupee were issued in silver. 

 

 The above are images of the two faces of a one rupee silver coin issued in 1940 which are from the collection of Jayant Biswas. 

One face shows Queen Victoria facing left with a legend "VICTORIA QUEEN" on the upper periphery and the other face shows the inscription "EAST INDIA COMPANY" on the upper periphery, below which is the denomination of this coin "ONE RUPEE" mentioned in English and Persian. On the bottom periphery is the year of issue 1840. Two laurel leafs encircle the denomination of this coin tied by a lemniscate or ribbon at the bottom.

 Below are images of another one rupee  and a two anna silver coins which I have:

The above images are of a one rupee silver coin from 1882 which is one of the "Regal issue" coins.

These are images of the obverse and reverse sides of the two anna coin in my possession and was issued in 1890.This was a part of the Regal issues from 1862 to 1901.

In addition , five rupee, ten rupee and 1 mohur  coins were issued in gold .

Obverse image of a recent Queen Elizabeth II one pound coin issued in 1983 (the first year of issue of one pound coin, i.e. the year the one pound coin replaced the one pound note).

If one notices the image on this coin one will see that the reigning Queen Elizabeth faces right, while Queen/Empress Victoria coins have the image facing left.This is because it is customary for every succeeding King/Queen to face the opposite direction to that of the predecessor.

I have mentioned below the list of various Kings/Queen in whose names coinage was issued in India at various points of time:

William IV   - 1830 to 1837 (facing right)

Victoria       -  1837 to 1901 (facing left)

Edward VII-   1901 to 1910 (facing right)

George V   -    1910 to 1936 (facing left)

Edward VIII- 1936  (facing left) which was the   only exception because he felt that his left profile was better looking than his right. As he abdicated the throne no coins were circulated in his name.

George VI – 1936 to 1952 (facing left) because he felt that George V his brother should have faced right as per tradition ,so, it was only correct that he should face left.                                                     

      

Links:

British Crown Dependencies:

1) Specimen Banknotes from the States of Jersey

2) Coinage and Currency from the States of Jersey

3) Currency & Coinage of the Bailiwick of Guernsey

4) Currency & Coinage of Gibraltar : An Overseas Territory of Great Britain

5) Coinage of Gibraltar: (A British Overseas Territory): An Uncirculated Decimal Coin Collection Set minted by the Tower Mint, UK in 2010
  
6) The Isle of Man: An Uncirculated Decimal Coin Collection Set minted by Pobjoy Mint, UK in 2015

7) The Centenary of the ill-fated Titanic (15.04.1912 - 15.04.2012): An Alderney Five Pound Coin Commemorating the Maritime Legend

8) "Man of Steel": A Superman Movie: A set of stamps brought out in 2013 by Jersey post, the States of Jersey, commemorating Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill who played Superman in the Movie

9) Coins & Currency of Bermuda

10) The Bailiwick of Jersey - Presently circulating coinage - Pounds and Pence 

11) St. Helena & Ascension Islands: An Uncirculated Coin Set from 2003 

12) The Legend of the "HMAV Bounty" is interwoven with the heritage of the Pitcairn Islands: An uncirculated coin set from Pitcairn Islands in 2009 depicting the icons/relics of the Bounty minted by the New Zealand Mint 

Famous Battles: 

1) Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's Exile to St. Helena: (Part I): A One Crown Commemorative coin issued by the Ascension Island (minted by Pobjoy Mint UK) 

2) Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's Exile to st. Helena: (Part II) 1) A 5 GBP Coin issued by the Royal Mint UK. 2) A"Drie Landen Zilverset" ( ot the "Three Lands Silver set") containing coins issued by the Royal Dutch Mint including coins of Netherlands, Belgium and UK

3) Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain by issuing a 50 Pence coin by the Royal Mint UK

Gold Coins:
  
1) Gold Sovereigns issued in 2013 & 2014 by MMTC-PAMP in India under licence from the Royal Mint, UK, carrying the "I" Mint Mark

2) Gold Half-Sovereigns minted by MMTC-PAMP in India in 2014 under licence from the Royal Mint UK bearing the "I" Mint Mark 

Silver Coins:

1) A 20 Pound Silver coin minted for the first timr by the royal Mint UK: reverse design carries the famous St. George slaying the dragon design found on Gold Sovereigns 

British India Coinage:

 1) East India Company Quarter Anna Copper Coin which is one of the first issues under the Coinage Act 1835

2) Victoria Coinage: When she was Queen and afterwards Empress

3) Edward VII: King & Emperor  Coinage

4) George V King Emperor Coinage

5) George VI: The last of the British India Emperors Coinage 

Other British Royalty: 

1) Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations (1952-2012): A Five Pound Commemorative coin issued by the Royal Mint, UK

2) Commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953: A Five Pound Coin minted by the Royal Mint UK in 2013, depicting the Imperial State Crown

3) The Royal Coat of Arms of the UK: Great British 2012 Coin Set (Uncirculated) issued by the Royal Mint UK

4) Prince George's Christening Ceremony celebrated with coins issued by the Royal Mint UK in 2013

5) The British Empire:  A Case of Numismatic "segregation": (Guest Post by Rahul Kumar)

6) 1) The Portrait Collection: Various Portraits of Queen Elizabeth II on Coinage 2) The Fourth & Final Circulating coinage of the Portrait designed by Ian Rank-Broadley and the First Edition of the portrait of the Queen made by Jody Clark

 British Coinage:

1) The contribution of the Great British One-Pound coins in keeping alive the historical legends/emblems/heritage of the UK (1983 onwards)

2) Transformation of a Five shilling Coin (Crown) into the UK Twenty-five Pence & then the Five Pound Coin

3) Transformation of the Two Shilling Coin (Florin) Coin into the UK Ten Pence

4) The 350th Anniversary of the Guinea: A Two Pound Coin issued by the Royal Mint UK celebrating the milestone

 Commemorative British Coinage:

 1) Commemorating the Bicentenary of Charles Dickens: A Two pound coin celebrating his literary contributions during the Victorian Era

 2) Commemorating 50 Years of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - presently called the World Wide Fund for Nature by issue of a Fifty Pence coin by the Royal Mint, UK

3) Coins commemorating London Olympics & Paralympics (2012)

4) Commemorating 150 Years of the London Underground : Two pound Coins minted by the Royal Mint UK, showing the "Roundel" logo and a train emerging from a tunnel 

5) Commemorating the 100th Birth anniversary of Christopher Ironside with his" Royal Arms" design on a 50 Pence coin issued by the Royal Mint, UK 

6) 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta - the Universal Guidepost to Liberty and Freedom

Inspirations from Scottish History: 

1) The Legend of King Bruce & the Spider on Banknotes

Banknotes from Scotland:
  
1) Commemorating Sir William Arrol and his creation the Forth Rail Bridge by issues of Britain's first ever 5 Pound Polymer Banknote