Although not strictly British coins in topic, there is of course a bit of a link:
 
	 
 
	- What has become ultimately of them? I seem to recall them being ?absorbed by ICI or some such...
 
	- Are their minting records, such as of the specimen trials they struck for foreign governments (presumable with the Royal Mint's blessing) available?
 
	  The reason I ask is that I was not only generally curious, but saw that the recent DNW lot of the 1977 Seychelles 1 Rupee and 50c appear to be very similar to "specimen strikes" that are being slabbed by PCGS (evidently by the ebay vendor and well known American foreign coin seller Margulies). I think that perhaps these were marketing pieces possibly related to them attempting to ramp up business between the 30s/40s and later 1990s.
 
	In the Seychelles case cited, these are of interest because I am not sure that currency 1977 with the defunct obverse portrait of Mancham are unknown - or at least to the best of my knowledge & so those at DNW appear as what I would term "specimen" strike, and not quite proof.
 
	 
 
	Just how rare or common are these?