When I posted about my journey down a colonial Indian coinage rabbit hole, the image I posted of a Queen Victoria quarter anna was of a pretty worn example.

Since then I’ve acquired a slightly less worn example

Still pretty worn, but clear enough to show the crowned profile and the legend Victoria Empress. It’s worth noting that same image was used from 1858 until her death in 1901, unlike her image on British coinage which was changed to an older veiled head in 1894.

The only major change was that in 1876 when she became Empress of India, the legend changed from Victoria Queen to Victoria Empress.

At the same time I also acquired a George V quarter anna. equally worn but clear enough to show the legend George V King Emperor and the profile of the crowned image used

As there were so many of these in circulation and they stayed in circulation for years, almost all pre independence quarter anna coins for sale are pretty worn.

The Queen Victoria and George V coins are quite easy to tell apart – Victoria has a little bun under crown, George V does not, and the legend on George V coins is longer and more tightly spaced. The reverse sides showing the value are identical except for the date.

These two I bought as reference pieces to aid identification, I find when trying to identify an old and worn coin, having an actual example is sometimes more help than a photograph, which may have been tweaked a little. I admit I did tweak the head side of the George V coin, but it’s my tweaking to show what I wanted to show!