1918 Fifteen rupees
Throughout the period of India's uniform coinage, a number of 15 rupee coins were struck. While not struck in every year, they were struck from 1862 through to 1891 and bore the denomination ONE MOHUR (equivalent to 15 rupees). The 15 rupee coins struck through the reign of Queen Victoria were generally low mintage coins suggesting that they did not see wide circulation or usage.
In 1918 15 rupee coins were struck again, though this time with the denomination 15 RUPEES, and also having been reduced in size to match the dimensions of the British sovereign. The 1918 15 rupees was struck at the Bombay Mint and 2,109,703 were struck. They were struck because of increased demand for coin during coupled with decreased importation of gold sovereigns during World War I (p46, Hodgson, The Bombay Branch of the Royal Mint Part 1: The Branch and its People in Coin News, July 2021). The 15 rupee coins were used in place of British sovereigns in 1918 and were struck until it was possible to strike sovereigns in India (p47, Hodgson, The Bombay Branch of the Royal Mint Part 1: The Branch and its People in Coin News, July 2021).
A small but unknown number of proofs were struck using original dies in the early 1960s when the Bombay Mint began re-striking historical coins.
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