The Rupees of 1862 form an interesting collecting area independent of the other Rupees. For one thing, from the years 1862 through 1873 all Rupees minted were dated 1862. Some believe the dot patterns on the reverse of the Rupees form a code to indicate the year of minting. You'll find this theory used in the Krause catalog listings. A strange quality of these dots is their relative crude execution. In general, the coins of British India display a high degree of workmanship both in design and in manufacture. However, these dots appear crude, oddly placed and of varying size. On coins with the same number of dots you will find many variations in placement of the dots.

Below are some illustrations of these dot patterns. Coins are listed in the format A/II 1/2, which means the obverse is of bust type A, the reverse is type II, and the dot pattern is 1 dot at the top and 2 dots at the bottom. See the illustration of the reverse of this coin at the right. The dot at the top of the coin is above the "N" in "ONE". The 2 dots at the bottom are below the center of the date just above the ornamental feature. Many of the varieties have no dot at the top and are indicated by 0/4, as an example. 0/0 indicates no dots either at the top or the bottom.

Is the date theory correct? K. N. Sharif, in his book "Hundred Years of Indian Coinage", presents a good argument against this theory. An old theory of the Indian public was that these dots indicated forgeries. Others suggest that mint workers applied the dots with broken nails! As a collector I consider them a fascinating field for collecting. My personal feelings, not particularly based on scientific study, is that the dots have nothing to do with dates but has some more mysterious explanation. It seems pretty doubtful that this mystery will ever be solved. However, we can still enjoy collecting these odd and mysterious coins, looking for new varieties to add to our collections and marveling at this strange chapter in the production of British India Rupees.