1939 One Rupee Coin Guide
by Nilaish MBA(Lon.)
Fellow of Royal Numismatic Society 2012-2013.
Fellow of Royal Numismatic Society 2012-2013.
*This information is from a number of sources which are cited using links. Author acknowledges Sanjay Gandhi for his analysis on this topic.
"1939 One Rupee coins are exceedingly rare and many fakes are prone ... please beware collectors before buying this exceptionally high price coin!"
1939 One Rupee Genuine coin sold by Todywalla at Nagpur Auction.
Image Courtesy: Todywalla
1939 One Rupee Genuine coin sold by Heritage Auctions. Lot# 24911
Image Courtesy: HA.COM
1939 One Rupee, Genuine 1939 Rupee, Slabbed by NGS (India) as Ex Mount XF 45.
Image Courtesy: Nilaish, Esq. Private Collection
1939 genuine One Rupee. HINT: check 1939: the first nine and last nine are aligned.
Private Collection.
There are many stories associated with 1939 India One Rupee coin (see above). The information about mintage in 1939 is not known. Concepts are made up based on gossips and rumors. This article is a distillation of gathered facts, fallacies, reference material, and
my own arguments to provide a clearer picture of what probably is closer to the
truth. The work by Pridmore (1975) draws light on its cataloging information. There are many rare coins of this period
which interests the coin collectors. The 1939 Rupee is the most expensive
rupee, as after 1939 all silver coins effectively became less pure, due to the
shortage of silver during the world war. The 1947 Rupee, half rupee, quarter
rupee and Anna coins are also of special interest to collectors, since that was
the last year British issued coins were circulated in India. The
Rupee coin was approved for standard circulation beginning January 1940 by the
British Government. The 1938 One Rupee dated coins were the first to be
struck in 1940, and the 1939 One Rupee dated coins were struck
thereafter. The
mintage was "planned" or "proposed" mintage by the Bombay
Mint which was common practice for many years.
The British Government
stopped minting the 1922 One Rupee dated coin in 1923 according to the mint
records, and never authorized another One Rupee coin for circulation until
16-17 years later as an order issued by the British Government. Meaning that
the British Government had not resumed production until January 1940 or late
1939 when the 1938 One Rupee dated coins were minted/released. The only reason
new coinage resumed in 1939 was because of the increase in commerce in India
from World War II. The majority of the 1938 One Rupee dated issue was minted in
the year 1940, and "a small quantity 1938 dated coins were minted in the
end of 1939" as noted by Major Fred Pridmore. It was not possible to
strike the 1938 One Rupee dated coin with the Type II obverse any sooner than
late 1939 at the earliest date. I believe the 1938 One Rupee dated coin mintage
was issued in its entirety, but not true for the 1939 One Rupee dated coins.
Consider some of the following data which may be above as well:
Type I: First Head or High Relief obverse
Type I obverse dies were only used for Specimen/Proof/Restrike/Presentation
issues for the 1938/1939 One Rupee dated coin(s), and these dies were never
used for the circulation Rupee strikes. These dies were sent to India in July
1939 by mistake, and had poor striking capabilities.
Type II: Second Head or Low Relief obverse
Only Type II Obverse dies are used for the 1938/1939 One Rupee dated circulation coin(s), work commenced for the new dies in August 1939, and The Type II obverse dies were not delivered to India until late 1939 from England because they had to be reworked. Possibly some of the 1938 One Rupee mintage was struck after these dies were delivered late in 1939 to be released January 1940.
As per Sanjay Gandhi: "The 1938 One Rupee dated coin was the first of many in the series. I believe that the entire mint run was done much later. The 1938 One Rupee dated coin, and the Bombay Mint transitioned into the 1939 One Rupee dated coin gradually. This 1938 One Rupee dated coin was also a "first year type issue", and there was probably some novelty associated with keeping one or two coins as a memento. Many of these coins landed into the hands of hoarders, jewelers/bazaars, Choksi(s) (assayer of gold and silver), neighboring countries. A majority of the 1938 One Rupee dated coins were probably melted/withdrawn from circulation before the official news announcement was made at the end of 1940 reducing the fineness for the One Rupee silver coinage to .500 Remember what the people in 1911 did? : They hoarded the Rupee coin, and they probably did the same thing with the 1938 One Rupee dated coin. Which does sort of explain why so many of them are available today, and even the window of opportunity to hoard the 1938 One Rupee dated coin was much greater than the 1911 One Rupee dated coins. The Reserve Bank of India planned to go "off" the .917 silver fineness standard, and shifted to a "Quaternary Alloy" (.500 silver fineness) with the 1940 1/4 Rupee dated coin as its first step."
Only Type II Obverse dies are used for the 1938/1939 One Rupee dated circulation coin(s), work commenced for the new dies in August 1939, and The Type II obverse dies were not delivered to India until late 1939 from England because they had to be reworked. Possibly some of the 1938 One Rupee mintage was struck after these dies were delivered late in 1939 to be released January 1940.
As per Sanjay Gandhi: "The 1938 One Rupee dated coin was the first of many in the series. I believe that the entire mint run was done much later. The 1938 One Rupee dated coin, and the Bombay Mint transitioned into the 1939 One Rupee dated coin gradually. This 1938 One Rupee dated coin was also a "first year type issue", and there was probably some novelty associated with keeping one or two coins as a memento. Many of these coins landed into the hands of hoarders, jewelers/bazaars, Choksi(s) (assayer of gold and silver), neighboring countries. A majority of the 1938 One Rupee dated coins were probably melted/withdrawn from circulation before the official news announcement was made at the end of 1940 reducing the fineness for the One Rupee silver coinage to .500 Remember what the people in 1911 did? : They hoarded the Rupee coin, and they probably did the same thing with the 1938 One Rupee dated coin. Which does sort of explain why so many of them are available today, and even the window of opportunity to hoard the 1938 One Rupee dated coin was much greater than the 1911 One Rupee dated coins. The Reserve Bank of India planned to go "off" the .917 silver fineness standard, and shifted to a "Quaternary Alloy" (.500 silver fineness) with the 1940 1/4 Rupee dated coin as its first step."
One Rupee notes were originally issued previously from 1917. People
had little faith in "paper", common man wanted tangible silver in hand, and the
government acted in late June of 1940 to combat hoarding as written by Dickson
H. Leavens: "A rule was made by the British Government under the Defense
of India act making it an offense for any person to acquire coins in excess of
his personal or business requirements and providing that in cases of doubt the
judgment of the Reserve Bank or it's duly appointed agents as to what
constitutes the reasonable requirements of one individual should be
conclusive."
One Rupee note issued in 1944 featuring 1940 One Rupee coin. It was used till 1957.
Soon followed an ordinance passed in July 1940 to issue and put into circulation 1-rupee notes again. However, currency notes were issued in 1944. The law provided that these should be
treated by the Reserve Bank in its account exactly as if they were One Rupee
coins. Between the dates of March 31st 1940 (close of the financial year) and
July 26th 1940 the Reserve bank's statement showed an increase of 90,000,000
Rupee coin. But more than likely these were One Rupee notes having date 1940" as
Dick H. Leavens noted in his work titled "Rupee Circulation in
India."
The
Bombay Mint had probably minted a very small quantity of 1939 One Rupee dated
coins that were more than likely mixed in with the 1938 One Rupee dated coins
entering circulation. I believe that the 1938 One Rupee dated coins were
finished being minted sometime in July of 1940, the mint started minting the
1939 One Rupee dated coins, the paper currency injection came to fruition, the
"official" order came to reduce the fineness for the Half Rupee to
.500 silver, and the One Rupee coin was to be officially reduced to .500 silver
as we know today. Man Alive there is a lot of stuff going in July 1940 at the
Bombay Mint! At the same time I think the decision came to stop the .917
fineness for the One Rupee 1939 dated coins going forward well before the official
date, and the Bombay Mint suspended minting the 1939 One Rupee dated coins
altogether. We are at a crucial transitory period going from .917 silver
fineness to .500 silver fineness. We know that one 1939 Security Edge One Rupee
dated coin survived from the supposed specimen mintage of 5 coins as noted by
Pridmore, and these were "trial" pieces struck by the Bombay Mint in
the "new" Quaternary Alloy. The Bombay Mint may have actually
tinkered with the idea of producing the 1939 One Rupee dated coin for standard
circulation with a security edge, and then abandoned the idea. If the planned
mintage was 150,000,000+ for the 1940 One Rupee dated coin then the Bombay Mint
had to get off its laurels to mint it's proposed mintage.
The
Bombay Mint in 1940 was making One Rupee coins
dated 1939 in the new alloy with the security edge would further delay the
arduous task of producing the planned mintage of 150,000,000+. 1940 One Rupee
dated coins. Maybe this is why they never struck 1939 One Rupee coins and Security
Edge Rupee coin for circulation. The 1940 One Rupee dated coin was
the most massively planned mintage for a One Rupee coin since 1920. They would have a good 12-13 months for
production, and some of these coins needed to be ready before the official
order was released on December 20, 1940 for fineness reduction.
The 1938
and 1939 One Rupee dated coins had been minted were probably withdrawn from
circulation over time up until the new batch came dated December 20, 1940,
and thereafter as well. But we know now in hindsight that The British Indian
Government could melt down 1,000 coin each weighted 0.917 silver fineness Rupee coins, produce
1,834 coins each weighted 0.500 silver fineness Rupee coins, and maintain the same value.
The 1939 One Rupee dated coin was struck for one or two days at most. However, it is highly unlikely to prove this. Unless concrete mint records it is impossible to say that. It was easy to identify 0.917 fitness, and
what was not. Most examples we see of the 1939 One Rupee coin have "Reeded
Edge" which is generally found in XF/AU (American standard grading)
or poorer quality. Anything with a Reeded Edge was 0.917 fitness, and anything with a
Security Edge was 0.500.
There was a 1939 Security Edge One Rupee dated coin that
surfaced in VF condition, and it had survived years of wear before somebody
pulled it from circulation many years ago. The sole reason the coin may of
survived many years of the 0.917 silver melts may have been because of the
"Security Edge" itself. Those coins that had the security edge were
easier to identify to keep them circulating through the Reserve Bank of India's
monetary system, and whatever didn't have a Security Edge was melted/re-minted.
Study of Some Forgeries:
A fake 1939 One Rupee Coin: Crude Forgery.
HINT: Look at R in Emperor on the obverse and INDIA, 1939 on the reverse which is punched on the coin much later by a forger.
TOOLED FORGERY.
1939 Fake One Rupee Coin, Medium Forgery. HINT: Check on the reverse 9 in 1939. It appears that 8 in 1938 is altered to look like 1939. It is a forger's crude manipulation.
TOOLED FORGERY.
1939 Fake One Rupee Forgery. HINT: Font of 1939 on the reverse.
References:
1. Pridmore, Major
Fred (1975) The Coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations: to
the end of the reign of George VI, 1952: Part 4, Spink & Son. London.
2. Paul Stevens, Randy Weir; (2012) Uniform British India Coinage (1835-1947), Spink & Son. London
3. Delhi Coin Society.
4. Royal Numismatic Society London.
5. Sanjay C. Gandhi.
6. Yashoda Singh, Baldwins.
7. South Asian Coins and Paper Money, Krause Publication.
This work is a compilation of works from several authors for free information exchange and can't be taken as scholarly work solely from Nilaish. Author claims to understand the topic as brevity permits.
