The only known genuine Indian gold rupee coin bearing the uncrowned portrait of Edward VII is among the rare and unique Indian coins that will be offered by Noonans Mayfair on Oct. 1 and 2, 2024.
Estimated to realize between £15,000 and £20,000 ($19,389 and $25,852 U.S.), the coin is from Part II of the Puddester Collection, which is expected to fetch approximately £750,000 ($969,450 U.S.).
Peter Preston-Morley, Special Projects Director (Numismatics) at Noonans said, in a press release: “We are very pleased to be offering the second part of the Puddester Collection which focuses on the Uniform Coinage of India 1835-1947, starting with East India Company rule from 1835, and then issues of the Government of India from 1858 until independence in 1947.”
He continued: “The Puddester collection is vast, and this is the second of nine auctions that Noonans will be staging over the next few years.”
Puddester Collection
Part One realized a hammer price of £1,581,800 when it was sold in February 2023. Robert P. Puddester, who lives in Canada and started collecting in the 1970s, offers his collection in this and succeeding auctions with hopes of encouraging a new generation of enthusiasts to build their own collections, within India and further afield.
Part II comprises 1,181 coins offered in more than 700 lots.
Highlights include a unique original striking in gold of an Edward VII rupee, dated 1903 from the Calcutta Mint.
Preston-Morley said: “Nothing has been recorded of this type before and the background to this exceptional piece is not known, but it can only be assumed that the original owner was a high-ranking official at the Calcutta mint, perhaps its Master, Col. Sir Buchanan Scott (1850 to 1937), who was in post from 1897 to 1904.
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