Coins of British India 1/2 Pice 1853
Obverse: Queen Victoria - Coat of arms of the East India Company: 2 lions, St George's cross on the crest and flags, motto on the ribbon "AUSP: REG: SEN: ANG:" ("Auspicio Regis et Senatus Angliae")
Lettering: 1853 AUSP: REG: SEN: ANG:
Translation: By the Command of the King and Parliament of England
Reverse: The value within a laurel wreath:1/2 PICE Around this is the legend:EAST INDIA COMPANY Within a plain, raised rim.
Lettering: EAST INDIA COMPANY ½ PICE
Edge Plain
Comments:
- Minor variations occur in date numerals
- In 1848, in response to the Court of Directors request that copper coin be superseded by silver fractions of a rupee, the Government of India produced a report that included, inter alia, reference to the fact that cowrie shells still passed current for small purchases in Bengal. The Directors, having read this report, then revised their earlier view and suggested that a further copper denomination of half pice should be added to the coinage for use in Bengal. The Government of India agreed to this and coinage started at the Calcutta mint in 1853, which is the fixed date shown on the obverse of the coin.
Value: 1/2 Pice (1/128).
Metal: Copper.
Weight: 3.23 g.
Diameter: 21 mm.
Shape: Round.
Pice - This coin is mentioned in the annals of Bombay as early as the middle of the seventeenth century, and while its value varied to some extent, it was generally accepted as equal to the fourth part of a Fanam. Specimens of Pice, as well as halves and doubles, exist in both copper and lead. In 1835 an Act was passed in the Presidency of Bengal making the Pice legal tender for one sixty-fourth of the East India Company Rupee. The copper Pice of today retains this ratio and is divided into three Pies.
Amoug the varieties of the Pice formerly current in the Deccan and other Parts of Hindustan, two of the principal ones were known as the Seorai, equal to one sixty-fonrtli of the ("handor Rupee, and the .laniodi or Siahi, equivalent to one tifty-sixth of a British Rupee. See Paisa. The Gazetteer of Aurangabad. 1884. cites the following in reference to the coins of the Deccan :
"The copper coins that prevailed were the Seorai, Jamodi, Dhabbu, and Siahi.
The Seorai-pice weighed 11 1/2 mashas, equal to 172 1/2 grains troy, and 16 gaudus of them, riz. 64, were given in exchange for a Chandor Rupee. The Jamodi, or Siahi-pices, were exchanged at the rate of 14 gandas, riz. 56, for a Surti or British Rupee. The Dhabbu weighed 18 mashas, equal to 270 grains troy, and was exchange at 8 gaudas, viz. 32, for a Chandor Rupee. The Siahi and Dhabbu are still sparingly current."