Gold Coins of British India
One Mohur of Queen Victoria of 15 Rupees 1862
One Mohur of Queen Victoria, 1862.
Obverse: Crowned bust of Queen Victoria. Legend: "VICTORIA QUEEN."
Reverse : " ONE MOHUR " " INDIA ; " and below, the date of the year of issue, the whole in four lines occupying the field, surrounded by a circle of dots and fancy arabesques.
Weight : 180 grains. Fineness: 916.666.
Gold Coins of British India - Imperial coinage
Victoria Queen and Empress
After the Indian Mutiny of 1857–58, the administration of British India was transferred from the East India Company to the British Crown. From 1862 till Indian independence in 1947, circulation coins were minted under the direct authority of the Crown. The early imperial issued coins continued to bear a fixed date, for example, rupee coins with the year 1862. This practice was intended to discourage the prevalent 'batta' system, i.e., a heavy penalty imposed by money changers or 'shroffs' on coins bearing an older date to account for wear and weight loss, irrespective of the actual condition of the coin.
Early gold coinage with Queen Victoria's crowned bust consisted of one mohur coins dated 1862. These coins were of the same weight (11.66 grams = one Tola) and fineness (0.9167) as the East India Company issued mohurs. These coins, probably minted between 1866 to 1869, were trade coinage and not recognized as legal tender. A number of varieties (including proofs) are known with minor variations in the reverse and obverse decoration details. 'Victoria Queen' mohurs were also struck with the year 1875, as well as 1870 proof issues with a mature bust of Victoria.
In 1876, Victoria assumed the title of 'Empress of India' and, from 1877, the legend on the obverse of all coins was changed to 'Victoria Empress'. Gold mohurs with the new obverse legend were issued between 1877 and 1891. The mintage of these mohurs is for any given date is relatively low, making them considerably scarce. Fractional values of the mohur (nominally valued at fifteen silver rupees) were also struck in denominations of ten and five rupees between 1870 and 1879. Except for a small number of ten and five rupees dated 1870, most of the fractional mohurs were proof issues. Varieties with both the younger and mature busts exist.
Mohur
The word 'Mohur' or 'Mohor' is the Persian word muhr, which means 'seal' and is cognate with the Sanskrit word mudra which also means 'seal.'
A Mohur is a gold coin that was formerly minted by several governments, including British India and some of the Princely States which existed alongside it, the Mughal Empire, Nepal, and Afghanistan. It was usually equivalent in value to fifteen silver rupees. It was last minted in British India in 1918, but some princely states continued to issue the coins until their accession to India after 1947. Similar coins were also issued by the British authorities in denominations of 2/3 Mohur (10 Rupees), 1/3 Mohur (5 Rupees) and the double Mohur (30 rupees), and some of the Princely States issued Half Mohur coins (equal to 7 Rupees and 8 Anna).
The Mohur coin was first introduced by Sher Shah Suri during his rule in India between 1540 and 1545 and was then a gold coin weighing 169 grains (=10.95 grams). He also introduced copper coins called Dam and silver coins called Rupiya that weighed 178 grains (=11.53 grams). Later on, the Mughal Emperors standardized this coinage of tri-metallism across the sub-continent in order to consolidate the monetary system.
Queen Victoria Coins
Coins of the British East India Company Half Rupee Silver Coin of 1840, Young bust of Queen Victoria