| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Denomination | 1/3 RixDoller |
| Alloy | Silver (0.917Ag) |
| Diameter | 17.4 mm |
| Thickness | mm |
| Weight | 2.92 gms |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Indented cord |
| DieAxis | O° |
| Issue | 260,000 |
| Mint | Madras |
Madras Quarter Rupee Counter-Marked with a Crown
The persistent shortage of coin led to a special import of East India Company's Madras "Arcot" quarter rupees. To retain these coins in local circulation they were counter-marked with a crown. Declared current by local proclamations dated 1823 March 22nd to pass at 1/3 rix-dollar or 4 fanams
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| Pridmore #25; Mitchiner #2225; Krause #85 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Obverse : Closed Lotus indicating Madras Mint
Reverse : AH 1172 - traditional year 6 of Alamgir II (1759) - Crown CounterMark on left side.
The coins counter marked with the British crown is the Madras Mint Arcot 1/4 rupee with closed lotus form (Krause Madras Presidency #413) the issue of which was authorized by a proclamation dated 1817 December 9th in Fort St. George (Madras).
The number issued from the 1824 Ceylon Blue book also lists that 282,337 Arcot rupee coin of the same mint issue ( Krause Madras Presidency #415 - 28.3 mm diameter and 11.66 gram weight) were similarly imported into Ceylon and counter marked for local use by a later proclamation dated 1823 December 31st. to pass at 4/3 rix-dollar or 16 fanams. (Pridmore #24; Mitchiner #2224; Krause #86)
Withdrawn from circulation after British Sterling was introduced in the island just 2-years later, both these coins are very rare and difficult to find. One of the few Ceylon coins of this era with no image illustrated in the Krause catalog. If you can read and translate the Arabic text please E-mail me.
Text from
* Ceylon Coins and Currency By H. W. Codrington. Colombo 1924
Page 151 Chapter XI British - I : 1796-1825 - Plate 167.
The coin was scanned at 600dpi and the images are displayed at 300dpi.
The almost uncirculated coin was purchased in April 1999 on ebay.
The image of this coin above is used in the 3rd Edition of the Krause
19th century Volume, which had not illustrated this coin previously.