George V 2 anna, 1914
Weight: 1.46gm
Silver: 91.7%
George V 1/4 rupee, 1918
Weight: 2.92gm
Silver : 91.7%
George V half rupee, 1936
Weight: 5.83gm
Silver: 91.7%
George V one rupee, 1911
The George V one rupee minted in 1911 is also called the "pig rupee", and it also has an interesting story to go along with it. We know that George V had his coronation in Delhi in 1911, and that marked the shift of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. This was the first year when George V coins were minted, upto 1910 the coins had Edward head on them. Obviously with change of ruler and change of head on the coins, the coins were redesigned. In this particular item, in the George V bust there was an elephant. But due to its trunk being made short, it looked more like a pig. Now the pig is considered unclean by the Muslims so to have the picture of a pig on the currency to be used daily was an issue. Due to this reason, a large number of coins minted in 1911 had to be withdrawn from circulation, and the 'pig' on the king's robes was later replaced with a modified 'elephant' to soothe the public. As a result, the 1911 half rupee, quarter rupee , 2 anna and quarter anna are rare; and the 1911 one rupee is somewhat scarce.
1911 is also a historically very important date since on the occasion of the coronation of king George V (which was held at Delhi), the capital of India was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in that year.
The king's coronation was perhaps as big an event as one may have witnessed in his or her lifetime, and it was also on this occasion that Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was asked by the Congress to compose a song in praise of King George V. With a heavy heart Tagore wrote the lyrics, and in his song he praised the almighty who has since the beginning of time, guided India to its destiny. Of course the king did not understand the lyrics, neither did most of the Indians as the song was in Bengali. The king was immensely happy at his supposed praise. The song which was sung was Jana Gana Mana, and when the newspapers fallaciously reported that the a song has been sung in praise of King George V, Tagore did not openly refute it. Later this song was chosen as our national anthem due to unknown reasons.
George V one rupee, 1919
Weight: 11.66gm
Silver: 91%
i have seven1911 two annas coins and three 1912 annas linked together in a chain will they be worth anything as they all have holes in them .
ReplyDeleteyou are right. They are only worth the silver content, no premium for them if they have holes.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing such valuable information.
ReplyDeletePlease keep posting more articles.
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Kulraj-Virji,sat sri akal, thank you for your informative posts. Our family has a bunch of the George V silver coins, 1919 rupee. As per the will of my father, we are supposed to sell these for charity. Would you have any idea how much we should sell them for? Thanks
ReplyDelete