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Lahore, India (British), original proof rupee in nickel, George VI, 1947, no mintmark, extremely rar

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - World (H-O) Start Price:3,000.00 USD Estimated At:3,500.00 - 7,000.00 USD
Lahore, India (British), original proof rupee in nickel, George VI, 1947, no mintmark, extremely rar
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This item SOLD at 2020 May 28 @ 15:39UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Lahore, India (British), original proof rupee in nickel, George VI, 1947, no mintmark, extremely rare (two known), PCGS PR63, finest and only example in PCGS census. S& W-9.40a. Final rupee coin of the British era, this original proof from the Lahore mint being one of only two known, the other certified by NGC as PF 63 and sold at Baldwin's in May 2013 with the description "totally unlisted as a proof of any sort." Note that PCGS created the suffix "a" for this S& W number (unpublished) issue, as their reference was released a year before the Baldwin's sale in which the discovery piece came to light. As S& W points out, the minting of a new nickel rupee was announced on May 24, 1947. Curiously, S& W shows a picture of one of two known original sets of nickel proof sets (Bombay mint, dated 1946) displaying a red U-shaped magnet to demonstrate that the coins are magnetic (the nickel composition necessitated by wartime silver and copper shortage). The present lot dated 1947 from the Lahore mint, distinguishable from Bombay by lacking the triangular mintmark below the date, exhibits good luster for the metal, with only one tiny mark in the wide-open fields displaying strong die-polish lines befitting of a specimen. Clearly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Indian specialist. PCGS #38543715. With original His Majesty's Mint paper envelope.