Extremely fine, Very rare.

This coin could well be one of the earliest series of 'Star' pagodas struck at Madras by the EIC, copying designs of French / Dutch 'Porto Novo' pagodas (see the pattern of wavy lines around the 'Swami'). It has better gold contents than the later, more degraded varieties and its execution is of a better standard. This is parallel to the development in the designs of silver Fanam issues of the EIC. In their case, too, we have the earlier coins of a finer fabric and better silver whereas the later coins show degradation of contents as well as of design. However, the 'Star' pagoda was a popular coin and it is likely that it was copied also by other colonial authorities, like the French, the Danish or the Dutch.