During the World War (1914 -1919) the prices of precious metal like silver shoot up. Precious metal reserves were the lowest as it was used for war time efforts. Nearly by the end of 1918, the British India government under King George V decided to discontinue minting the fractional coins in silver. In place of silver fraction copper-nickel fraction of 2 Anna, 4 Anna and 8 Anna were introduced and this practice remained till the independence. To distinguish them from silver fractions the looks of 2 Anna and 4 Anna changed altogether, while 8 Anna though round carried new design and style with multi-lingual denomination.

Denomination: 2 Anna, 4 Anna and 8 Anna

Shape: Square, scalloped, square surrounded.

Metal: copper nickel

Image courtesy: mintage world