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1/4 Rupee
| Issuer | Imperial British East Africa Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1890 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The denomination 1/4 RUPEE in bold Latin characters occupies the upper field, preceded by the place-name MOMBASA along the upper legend. Below the Latin denomination, the equivalent value is rendered in Arabic script (۴ انه, meaning 4 annas). The entire central design is framed by a wreath of olive branches tied with a ribbon bow at the base, with the date 1890 appearing in the exergue beneath the wreath. A beaded border rings the entire reverse. |
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| Additional information |
The Imperial British East Africa Company received its royal charter in 1888, and the 1890 coinage — struck at the Birmingham Mint under Ralph Heaton & Sons — was among the first systematic currency issues designed to displace the Maria Theresa Thaler and various Indian rupee fractions that had dominated coastal trade for generations. The company's monetary ambitions outpaced its administrative ones; the British government absorbed its territories in 1895, rendering the entire series obsolete within five years of first issue.
KM#3 is the fractional silver piece of the set, struck to a fineness matching contemporaneous British Indian coinage — a deliberate policy choice to ease exchange at Mombasa and Zanzibar.