The Mystery of the 1840 William IV One Rupee: Numismatic Debate and Historical Context

The reign of William IV (1830–1837) was brief but marked an important stage in the shaping of British India. Although he never set foot in the subcontinent, his rule coincided with the East India Company’s efforts to strengthen political control and economic uniformity. A key development of this time was the minting of silver rupees featuring his portrait between 1835 and 1837. These coins symbolized the replacement of diverse regional currencies with a standardized system, reinforcing imperial authority. William IV’s legacy in India, though short-lived, provided a monetary framework that Queen Victoria’s long reign would later expand upon.

The One Rupee coin that is sometimes attributed to William IV and marked with the date 1840 is an object of both curiosity and debate in numismatic circles. To understand its background, it is important to look at the historical context. William IV reigned as King of the United Kingdom from 1830 until his death in 1837, and during this short period, the East India Company minted silver rupees bearing his portrait, most notably between 1835 and 1837. These coins were part of a wider effort to standardize Indian coinage under British control, and they carried the image of the monarch on one side and inscriptions relating to denomination and issuing authority on the other. However, after William IV’s death, the throne passed to his niece, Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901. The East India Company and later the British Indian government began issuing her famous “Young Head” rupee series, with the earliest major issues dated 1840. These coins featured a finely detailed portrait of Queen Victoria facing left on the obverse, while the reverse typically bore the words “ONE RUPEE INDIA 1840” enclosed within a decorative wreath, often accompanied by Persian or Urdu script to facilitate recognition among local users.

Because of this historical succession, the appearance of a coin showing William IV’s portrait with the year 1840 presents a contradiction.

However, the noted British-Indian numismatic researcher, Leitton Rezaul, has presented important findings regarding the existence of this coin. According to his analysis, there was a significant shortage of one-rupee coins around 1840. Prior to this shortage, the Royal Mint had already dispatched to the Calcutta Mint obverse dies bearing the portrait of Queen Victoria, together with new reverse working punches dated 1840. These working punches, being prototypes from which dies were manufactured, were intended to initiate the new coinage. Yet, due to technical defects, the preparation of the dies was delayed.

In order to meet the urgent demand for rupees, the Calcutta Mint authorities adopted a temporary measure by reusing earlier dies from 1835. Specifically, they employed obverse dies bearing the initial “F” of Mint Master Forbes, located beneath the bust of King William IV, and paired them with the corresponding reverse dies of 1835. To adapt these dies to the current year, the final two digits of the date, 3 and 5, were manually altered to 4 and 0. Thus, through this intervention, the dies for the so-called “1840 William IV rupee” were created. These dies were used for only a brief period and for striking a very limited number of coins, serving as a provisional response to the currency shortage. This process also explains why the reverse of the 1840 William IV rupee exhibits no modification to the floral design, in contrast to the newly prepared reverse design intended for the 1840 Queen Victoria coinage.

Rezaul further noted another important detail: the dies reused for the 1840 William IV rupee were already heavily worn, particularly those with the raised “F” initial beneath the King’s bust on the obverse. As a result of repeated striking, the initial became partially filled and indistinct. On well-preserved coins (UNC grade) the “F” appears faintly, whereas on circulated specimens it is almost invisible. This indistinct marking has led to frequent misattribution of these coins to the Bombay Mint. Additionally, the reverse design presented in association with William’s obverse did not appear until 1849–1850. Consequently, neither William Wyon, the Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint, nor Kashinath Das, an engraver at the Calcutta Mint, could have designed or employed such a reverse motif in 1840.

The so-called “1840 William IV rupee” was not a formal issue but a temporary response by the Calcutta Mint to a coin shortage. By altering worn 1835 dies, mint officials produced a small number of coins that later caused confusion in attribution. These anomalies illustrate the adaptive strategies of colonial mints and mark a transitional phase between William IV’s brief coinage and Queen Victoria’s standardized series. These types of coins are also called Mule Coin. A mule is a coin or medal minted with obverse and reverse designs not normally seen on the same piece. These can be intentional or produced by error.