½ Anna King George VI British India Nickel Historical Coin

British India, King George VI, Reign: 1936–1947, Denomination: ½ Anna (Two Pice), Metal: Copper-Nickel, Year: 1946, Weight: 2.87 grams, Size: 19.7 mm, Square with Rounded Corners, Reference: KM #535, Grade: About Extremely Fine.

Obverse: Crowned bust of King George VI facing left with the surrounding legend GEORGE VI KING EMPEROR, enclosed within a toothed border.

Reverse: Denomination and date within an ornamental central panel reading INDIA ANNA ½ 1946, with the equivalent value of “Two Pice” expressed in four Indian scripts—Urdu, Bengali, Telugu, and Devanagari—around the outer border, all within a plain rim.

NOTE: This image is a sample from the lot. We do not promise delivery of the exact coin shown. You will receive the same type coin in good condition. Year and mint may be different from the picture shown.

Introduced during the final years of British rule in India, the copper-nickel ½ Anna represented one thirty-second of a rupee and was equivalent to two pice. The distinctive square-shaped design with rounded corners was introduced under George VI and became one of the most recognizable denominations of late colonial India. Produced amid the economic challenges of the Second World War and the final phase of the British Raj, these coins circulated extensively across the Indian subcontinent and remained in use after independence until the adoption of decimal coinage. Their multilingual inscriptions reflected the linguistic diversity of India and symbolized the broad circulation of imperial currency throughout the country.

Coinage Note: The 1946 half anna was struck in copper-nickel and issued from two mints, Bombay and Calcutta. The coin’s unusual shape, multilingual reverse, and association with the closing years of British India make it one of the most popular and widely collected denominations of the George VI series.