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India Rupee Any info on it as far as mintage?
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LInk
Does anyone have any info on this coin as far as mintage? Was is struck in year 29 of the bengal Presidency?
I understand that the Bengal Presidency was from 1765 until 1919 under British Rule and this coin was struck under Shah Alam II.
Thanks!
Corrected for Spelling
Does anyone have any info on this coin as far as mintage? Was is struck in year 29 of the bengal Presidency?
I understand that the Bengal Presidency was from 1765 until 1919 under British Rule and this coin was struck under Shah Alam II.
Thanks!
Corrected for Spelling
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(The latter was a cool girl group, but I'm not so sure I'd want any of them as president or anything.)
Let me look at your coin link and get back to you on that.
Edit- back now. Um, sorry- my Krause doesn't list mintage information on anything minted under the Bengal Presidency, so I'm not sure where you'd go for that information. We've got some Indian forum members, but whether they'll see this or have any access to such information is anyone's guess.
<< <i>Was is struck in year 29 of the bengal Presidency? >>
No, the AH 1229 is the Islamic year. Equates to about AD 1813, I believe.
<< <i>Thanks Lord, Shah Alam II dies in 1806, did they mint coins after his death with his name on them? >>
Dunno, but if it's dated AH 1229, and it's indeed got his name on it somewhere, then it would seem so.
I'll be the first to admit that these issues are not my strong point. Thank goodness PCGS put the KM number on the slab. That will help me look it up. I dunno how much help Krause will be, either, but it's a good starting point until somebody with more specialized knowledge comes along.
Back in a sec...
OK. Here we go. As per the 4th Edition Krause (circa 2004):
KM#42, Rupee.
Struck in silver, though no bullion standards listed (they do list that for some other issues.)
Mint: Muhammadabad Banaras.
Obverse: Darogah's marks within Persian inscription, stylized fish, couplet.
Obverse inscription: "Shah Alam II Badshah".
Reverse: Flower, Persian-julus (formula), mintname.
Edge: oblique milling.
Note: Broad flan.
Date: AH1229//17-49.
Mintage: - (dash, indicating insufficient data)
Values: VG - (dash), F $60.00, VF $120.00, XF $200.00 (no values for higher grades listed).
So there we have it.
It looks like Alam II was indeed mentioned on posthumous coinage, if he died in 1806 like you say (have to go back to Wikipedia for that) but it also looks as though there is a regnal year (year of the reign) in addition to the AH Hejira (Islamic) date. So it would be dated 1229 AH but would additonally carry some regnal year between 17 and 49. (From Alam II's reign? Seems odd, if he indeed died in 1806.) The regnal year is usually the actual year the coin was struck, I believe, while the 1229 would be more of a frozen "series" date, like you see on US currency.
I'll have to go back to the pictures of the coin now to see if I can parse out the numerals for the regnal year...
Now let's see if I can crack the enigma of whether there's a regnal date on the coin or not...
So it would be at the end of the regnal date range listed by Krause.
We're also at the end of my helpfulness, probably. According to the Wikipedia article, Alam II reigned for 46 years and something, so a regnal year of 49 would be two or three years after his death, right? Doesn't make sense to me.
And if AH 1229 more or less equals AD 1813, the math is off. Three years after his death would be 1809-ish, not 1813-ish.
I'm puzzled, so I'll let someone more experienced in this kind of material take over from here.
<< <i>Pop 1 -- Finest graded !!! >>
Huh. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if it were the ONLY one graded.
Helluva nice coin, though, if you're into stuff with lots of squigglies and not much in the way of pictorial design. (The little fish on it is cool, though.)
Considering the Krause values, the eBay closing price seems about right, I guess. Is it yours, TBE?
Thanks for you help Lord, I too shall wait for an expert in the series!
<< <i>These British India coins have a fairly dedicated following it seems >>
Indeed they do, and as a Darksider, I'm happy to see globalization having some effect on the coin market. With the economy of the Western world in turmoil and the rising of China, I wouldn't be at all surprised to notice an uptick in prices of Asian and/or Eastern material like this. In fact, I suppose it's been going on for a while. I've not paid much attention, but some recent talk on this forum about the skyrocketing of British trade dollars certainly seems a prime example. India is probably a good market to get into, but I find the coins puzzling and very "foreign" to me. Even the mainstream British India issues (which I collect to a small degree in my daughter's 1901 British Empire set) can be difficult for me to figure out. Dots and diamonds for mintmarks, zillions of minor varieties and types- it's all a bit bewildering for me. I suppose outsiders to the ancient coin community feel the same way about those coins. (Which also beguiled me for a long time but I finally just jumped in and made myself at home there.)