1947 1/2 Anna (b) rarity

[zookeeperz]

Good day folks. Have a bit of a quandary . I have a 1947 1/2 Anna but struck from the Bombay mint as opposed to Calcutta. They were also struck @ the lahore mint but nobody can identify them as during this period both Bombay and Calcutta coins had test marks added to them. Usually 1 behind the head of  the king and 1 on the reverse abone the first N of ANNA but not strictly designated to a set area and some had more than 1 each side. The diagonal short strokes either side of the date are the markers for Calcutta and Bombay . Calcutta mint coins just have the dash/stroke line whereas the Bombay mint has a stop/dot half way down the stroke so it looks like a kind of dash-dot-dash effect. I asked some authoritarians on British-India coins and asked why the 1947 Bombay mint carried such a high book value $500 in MS -60 in fact it's valued higher than the proof-likes. But here is the thing NGC has graded 19 1947 1/2 Anna coins all Calcutta mint.PCGS hasn't graded any and the only 1947(B) they graded was a prooflike restrike and I am guessing that is where they a generating a hypothetical value from. So no coins have sold through auctions and you can search all over the internet and never find one. Only footnotes about variety types. But there is no explanation for a coin with no actual mintage figure and  quote " The characteristics of the 1947 Bombay mint haven't been determined but are thought to resemble the 1946 issue" un-quote. So how rare are these coins? Anyone care to chime in . Every door I open slams shut and is frustrating to say the least. Here is my Nemesis   I think I need to slab this one purely on the grounds of rarity.?

[bagerap]

Possibly the greatest depth of knowledge on Indian coins can be found on worldofcoins.eu. Most of the acknowledged experts on Indian coins are active members.

[zookeeperz]

3 hours ago, bagerap said:

Possibly the greatest depth of knowledge on Indian coins can be found on worldofcoins.eu. Most of the acknowledged experts on Indian coins are active members.

I asked on that forum in July this year all I could gain from the discussions was no coins dated 1947 had mint marks Until a Guy posted his 1947B 1/2 anna which pretty much silenced the thread lol. Followed by my post and all they could confirm was yes that is the rare 1947B 1/2 anna. Another guy at chiefa coins I think its called said there were 4 million minted. So I am thinking perhaps they pulled them before release and some escaped as they do. Or loads would of been about? It is kind of frustrating but enjoying the journey and the knowledge learned along the way. And those 2 coins are the only two coins I have seen. No auction has sold any even in the mixed lots all are calcutta mints.

Edited October 30, 2017 by zookeeperz

[zookeeperz]

Whilst we are all here does anyone know a guru for British India coins. I been down the usual routes online sites and even the mint in bombay itself. But still cannot get a definitive answer to why there are no 1947(b) 1/2 Anna coins . I have seen 1 other than mine in 2 years. Even krause has a cryptic description " the makeup of the 1947 Bombay coin is unknown but thought to be the same as 1946" there are no mintage figures for them. I went on world of coins but they seemed to think this coin didn't exist and all 1947 were dated 1946. Unless they run a few and decided they were not needed and cancelled the rest?

[bagerap]

Coincommunityforum has drnsreedhar who is very good but rarely there

Edited April 3, 2018 by bagerap

[zookeeperz]

1 minute ago, bagerap said:

Worldofcoins.eu is frequented by the world's top experts on Indian coinage.

I know mate i went there but they are all at odds with each other so I am lost as to the next step even the Bombay mint couldn't give any information . Mind you what mints do lol

[bagerap]

Yes, I realised that I'd repeated myself and changed the text

[Mr T]

The Uniform Coinage of India 1835 to 1947 by Stevens and Weir is a good reference - it says that 24,144,000 1947 Bombay 1/2 annas were minted but gives it an equivalent value to the Calcutta.

The David Fore Collection of British Indian coins (which was very comprehensive and was sold by Baldwins) didn't seem to have an example though (at least not in the sequence of regular coins).

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot were made and subsequently withdrawn (or perhaps never even issued).

[alfnail]

 

On ‎10‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 11:36 AM, zookeeperz said:

Good day folks. Have a bit of a quandary . I have a 1947 1/2 Anna but struck from the Bombay mint as opposed to Calcutta. They were also struck @ the lahore mint but nobody can identify them as during this period both Bombay and Calcutta coins had test marks added to them. Usually 1 behind the head of  the king and 1 on the reverse abone the first N of ANNA but not strictly designated to a set area and some had more than 1 each side. The diagonal short strokes either side of the date are the markers for Calcutta and Bombay . Calcutta mint coins just have the dash/stroke line whereas the Bombay mint has a stop/dot half way down the stroke so it looks like a kind of dash-dot-dash effect. I asked some authoritarians on British-India coins and asked why the 1947 Bombay mint carried such a high book value $500 in MS -60 in fact it's valued higher than the proof-likes. But here is the thing NGC has graded 19 1947 1/2 Anna coins all Calcutta mint.PCGS hasn't graded any and the only 1947(B) they graded was a prooflike restrike and I am guessing that is where they a generating a hypothetical value from. So no coins have sold through auctions and you can search all over the internet and never find one. Only footnotes about variety types. But there is no explanation for a coin with no actual mintage figure and  quote " The characteristics of the 1947 Bombay mint haven't been determined but are thought to resemble the 1946 issue" un-quote. So how rare are these coins? Anyone care to chime in . Every door I open slams shut and is frustrating to say the least. Here is my Nemesis   I think I need to slab this one purely on the grounds of rarity.?

 

I'm not an expert on Indian coins, but I do have a collection of George VI World coins for the last year he appeared on every Country, and for all denominations. I have now completed this 'sideline' collection of 150 coins, trying to acquire as high a grade as possible.

For India this meant finding a 1947 Half Anna from the Bombay mint, which at first sight (looking at supposed mintage figures) I thought would be a real doddle!

I think I looked for two years before I found a low grade piece, which I let pass because I wanted UNC, perhaps in hindsight that was a mistake.

Anyway, I did eventually find a nice example but unfortunately the seller also knew it was an extremely difficult type to locate, so I found myself paying the asking price rather than risk regretting letting it go and then never finding a decent one again. It was in fact the second most expensive piece in this small collection, more than the 1952 BWA Sixpence and almost as much as the 1952 Mint State Australian Sixpence.

Pictures are attached for your reference, small dots on both reverse and obverse as I think you were expecting.

[zookeeperz]

4 minutes ago, alfnail said:

 

 

I'm not an expert on Indian coins, but I do have a collection of George VI World coins for the last year he appeared on every Country, and for all denominations. I have now completed this 'sideline' collection of 150 coins, trying to acquire as high a grade as possible.

For India this meant finding a 1947 Half Anna from the Bombay mint, which at first sight (looking at supposed mintage figures) I thought would be a real doddle!

I think I looked for two years before I found a low grade piece, which I let pass because I wanted UNC, perhaps in hindsight that was a mistake.

Anyway, I did eventually find a nice example but unfortunately the seller also knew it was an extremely difficult type to locate, so I found myself paying the asking price rather than risk regretting letting it go and then never finding a decent one again. It was in fact the second most expensive piece in this small collection, more than the 1952 BWA Sixpence and almost as much as the 1952 Mint State Australian Sixpence.

Pictures are attached for your reference, small dots on both reverse and obverse as I think you were expecting.

That is only the 3rd one I have seen . I think these coins must of been stopped soon after minting as the lahore mint had 59 million coins minted but there so far has been no way to distinguish between calcutta and lahore issues as both practiced the trial marks locating one behind the head and one on the reverse but not always on the reverse. I think they started to run the 1947 and then cancelled them due to sufficient coins from 1946 and the remainder of the mintage were 1947 calcutta issues. Just an idea ?