Copper Half Rupee of George VI in 1946

Albert Frederick Arthur George familiar as George VI was the King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was concurrently the last Emperor of India until August 1947, when the British Raj was dissolved.

During the period of George VI, half Rupee was minted in Calcutta, Bombay and Lahore in 0.917 silver, 0.500 silver and Nickel with a reeded edge and later a security edge. Standard weight was around 5.7g to 5.9g and diameter 24.0mm to 24.4mm. Edge was milled from 1938 to 1940 and 1946 to 1947; and security edge was from 1941 to 1945. There was no mint mark for Calcutta. The Bombay issues have a small dot or diamond on the reverse under the ornate (the lotus flower) near the bottom of the coin. The Lahore mint used a small "L" in the same position. When the composition switched to Nickel in 1946 a completely different reverse (an Indian tiger) was introduced.

On 1946, only Bombay mint half Rupee was documented in different books and material was Nickel. But I found copper half rupees of 1946 as below photos. May be, it was used as a locket, therefore a small additional material was welded with it. Weight was found 5.75g including that welded material. Edge was milled. Weight is slightly less than regular half Rupee of 1946 but dimension is same. There was no dot at the bottom of Indian tiger at Reverse side. Indian tiger shape and king face were quite similar but lettering was different at both sides. Even 1946 pattern was different. This may be known as Off Metal Strike (OMS) Copper coin. Earlier I found two copper half Rupee of 1947 but those were almost similar to regular half Rupee of 1947 except weight.