Photo courtesy... first 2 photos... From the book 'Traversing Travancore through the ages on coins'... and exhibited in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (England)...Page..130.
1) Debased gold/silver...Weight..0.38 grams & 7mm.
2) Gold... Weight...0.38 grams & 8mm.
3) Silver... Weight...0.74 grams & 9mm.
Interesting feature of the first 2 specimens is that it is faceless..only the third coin do have a face.
Are these hand struck patterns/commemorative coins from the Rani Gouri Parvati Bai period (1815-'29)?
From the book of Dr Joseph Thomas..'Legends of Travancore, A Numismatic Heritage'.. Page 220.
But the permission to mint coins (gold, silver varahan) was disallowed by the British Presidency.
Instead, did the Travancore Mint issued a small double chuckram Lakshmi Silver coin (0.74 grams.. shown top), with the perfect specifications of a Half Fanam, during Regent Parvati Bai period, in continuation of 1817 Gold 1/16 Lakshmi Varahan (shown below) and the gold (.38 gms) and silver (.38 gms) showed on top?
