1 Anna King George VBritish India 1910–1936 AD Copper-Nickel Historical Coin

British India, King: George V, Reign: 1910–1936 CE, Years of Minting: 1912–1936 CE, Denomination: 1 Anna, Metal: Copper-Nickel, Weight: 3.82 grams, Diameter: 20.5 mm, Reference: KM# 515, About Very Fine, Scarce.

Obverse: Crowned left-facing bust of King George V with the surrounding legend “GEORGE V KING EMPEROR,” engraved by Edgar Bertram MacKennal.

Reverse: Denomination and date within an ornate floral design, with the value “One Anna” expressed in multiple languages including Urdu, Telugu, Bengali, and Devanagari, reflecting the linguistic diversity of British India.

Issued during the reign of King George V, this 1 Anna coin represents one of the most iconic and widely circulated denominations of British India. Produced from 1912 until 1936, it served as an essential component of everyday commerce throughout the Indian subcontinent, facilitating transactions in markets, transportation, and local trade. The coin was struck in copper-nickel, providing greater durability than earlier bronze issues while maintaining a distinctive appearance in circulation. Its elegant floral reverse design is considered among the most attractive of all British Indian coin types, combining artistic beauty with practical denomination markings in several regional languages. The obverse portrait of George V symbolizes the authority of the British Crown during a period marked by major political and economic developments, including the transfer of India’s capital from Calcutta to Delhi, the First World War, and the rise of the Indian independence movement. These coins circulated extensively across both British-administered provinces and princely states, becoming a familiar part of daily life for millions. Today, the George V One Anna remains a highly collectible and historically significant coin, admired for its beautiful design, multilingual inscriptions, and connection to the mature period of the British Raj.

Coinage Note: The One Anna was equal to one-sixteenth of a Rupee and occupied an important position within the pre-decimal Indian monetary system. The distinctive multilingual reverse was designed to ensure easy recognition across the diverse linguistic regions of British India, making it one of the most practical and recognizable denominations of the colonial era.