2 Anna

1841, India (British), Queen Victoria. Silver 2 Annas Coin. SW-3.62. PCGS AU58!

Mint Year: 1841
Mint Place: Bombay  
Denomination: 2 Annas
Reference: SW-3.62, KM-460.2. 
Condition: Certified and graded by PCGS as AU-58!
Material: Sterling Silver (.925)
Diameter: 15mm
Weight: 1.46gm

Obverse: Bare bust of Queen Victoria left.
Legend: VICTORIA QUEEN

Reverse: Bi-lingual denomination (TWO ANNAS) within wreath.
Legend: EAST INDIA COMPANY * 1841 *

The East India Company (also the East India Trading Company, English East India Company, and then the British East India Company)   was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for   pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly   with the Indian subcontinent and China. The oldest among several   similarly formed European East India Companies, the Company was granted   an English Royal Charter, under the name Governor and Company of   Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies, by Elizabeth I on 31   December 1600. After a rival English company challenged its monopoly in   the late 17th century, the two companies were merged in 1708 to form the   United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies,   commonly styled the Honourable East India Company, and abbreviated, HEIC; the Company was colloquially referred to as John Company, and in India as Company Bahadur (Hindustani bahadur, "brave").

The East India Company traded mainly in cotton,   silk, indigo dye, saltpetre, tea, and opium. However, it also came to   rule large swathes of India, exercising military power and assuming   administrative functions, to the exclusion, gradually, of its commercial   pursuits. Company rule in India, which effectively began in 1757 after   the Battle of Plassey, lasted until 1858, when, following the events of   the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and under the Government of India Act   1858, the British Crown assumed direct administration of India in the   new British Raj. The Company itself was finally dissolved on 1 January   1874, as a result of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act.

The Company long held a privileged position in   relation to the English, and later the British, government. As a result,   it was frequently granted special rights and privileges, including   trade monopolies and exemptions. These caused resentment among its   competitors, who saw unfair advantage in the Company's position. Despite   this resentment, the Company remained a powerful force for over 200   years over India.

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and from 1 May 1876 the first Empress of India until her death. Her reign as Queen lasted 63 years and seven months, longer than that of any other British monarch to date. The period centred on her reign is known as the Victorian era.

Though Victoria ascended the throne at a time when the United Kingdom was already an established constitutional monarchy in which the king or queen held few political powers, she still served as a very important symbolic figure of her time. The Victorian era represented the height of the Industrial Revolution, a period of significant social, economic, and technological progress in the United Kingdom. Victoria's reign was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire; during this period it reached its zenith, becoming the foremost global power of the time.

Victoria, who was of almost entirely German descent, was the granddaughter of George III and the niece of her predecessor William IV. She arranged marriages for her nine children and forty-two grandchildren across the continent, tying Europe together; this earned her the nickname "the grandmother of Europe". She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover; her son King Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Through her mother, she was also a first cousin twice removed of Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress.