Baroda, Silver Presentation Bar 2.5 Tola, 28.10g, Struck for the coronation of Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1939, Obv: Bust of Maharani Shanta devi, Rev: English legend and weight. Very fine, extremely rare.
Bullion bars or ‘Tolas’ were also used as a role presentation pieces,partly because they fulfilled the accepted norm that the gift should have an intrinsic value appropriate to the giver and the receiver. An example is the “Coronation 2 ½ tola silver bar” commissioned by Maharani Shantadevi in 1938 for the coronation of her husband Pratap Singh, the Gaikwar of Baroda. Maharani Shantadevi would have presented these tolas to guests whom she had invited to attend the coronation. Shanta devi was Pratap Singh's first wife and the daughter of Appasaheb Ghorpade of Hasur, a jagir of Kolhapur state.