Extremely fine, Exceedingly rare.

This is highly unusual variety of Tipu's silver coinage, known from about five specimens. Struck to a quarter rupee weight, it does not bear a denomination and a mint like his other silver issues. It has widely assumed that this might have been a 'trial' / 'pattern' strike - however, the fact that there exists die-variation amongst known specimens suggests that more than one dies and their combinations were used to strike these coins, so it is unlikely to have been a trial strike.

The only other explanation that can be given is that the coins might have been struck for a special purpose, such as a court ritual like 'Nisar'. The year 1787 in which these coins were produced was an important one for Tipu's reign - he concluded a war with the Marathas and sent an embassy to the Ottoman Sultan of Turkey, who was also styled the Khalifa of the Muslim World. It is therefore likely that a Darbar was held and it necessitated issue of ceremonial coins. Quarter rupee was the most commonly used denomination for producing such coins.