Can anyone help me?

[Guest Steve99]

Hi, i have just tidyed a cupboard in my house and i came across a coin. On one side it says 'East India Company' and in the centre of the same side it says 'Half Anna'. The reverse side has the Royal Crest and 1835 on it.

Does anybody know the value of the coin and how rare it is? I know the history of the East India Company as i am an Historain and would be grateful for some assistance in this matter.

[Geoff T 3]

These coins were produced by the shedload - India is a big country - so they're not that rare. The William IV 1835 is the first, but they had a habit of restriking them with the same date until the need for change - in this case the accession of Victoria, and even then it was 1840 before they got round to doing anything.

Your coin could thus be from any year from 1835 through to 1839-40. The only way to tell the difference is that the genuine 1835 ones will have a different set of initials for the mintmaster.

Geoff