Thread: Ancient Persian Coins?

I picked these up today in Afghanistan from a local. Can anyone identify them for me? I believe they are ancient Persian coins that are hammered silver but that is the extant of my knowledge/guesses. Does anyone know of a decent reference for these coins?

Looks a lot more Indian, (modern day Pakistan), than Persian. I bet Michiner covers it, but I cannot look it up right now.

We are running into a terminology conflict here. These do look like Islamic silvers of a few hundred years ago (which I do not collect) but not ancient or Persian (which I do collect). Persian coins start about 500BC so no Arabic language coin will qualify as old enough to be called 'ancient'. I would agree the place to start looking is in issues in what is now Pakistan and India.

They are india moghal coins. see the below link. special the last item. http://www.chiefacoins.com/Database/...ies/Mughal.htm

Originally Posted by jhinton

Can anyone identify them for me?

They are silver rupee coins from India, issued during Mughal period.

The first coin is issued in name of Mohammad Shah, 12th mughal emperor from india. The obverse is missing the date. However, the reverse has his regnal year 2 on last line. This indicates that this coin was issued in AD 1720. Also, the mint name reads "Dar-ul-khilafat Shahjahanbad", which was the official name of capital of India, Delhi, in those days.

The second coin is issued in name of Jahangir. The reverse has hijri date AH 1026 (which translates to AD 1617). On obverse, it has his regnal year 12 (His reign started in 1605, so regnal 12 also translates to AD 1617). The mint name is off flan, so it's not possbile to identify from which mint this coin was produced.

Nice little pieces of history from that region.

Regards,
Ballabh Garg

Wow, thanks guys! Is it worth getting more or are they easy to get in the states? I would like to add a few more to the collection but would rather buy them from a dealer as sometimes it's not east buying from the locals here in Afghanistan.

Thanks for the help!

Originally Posted by jhinton

Wow, thanks guys! Is it worth getting more or are they easy to get in the states? I would like to add a few more to the collection but would rather buy them from a dealer as sometimes it's not east buying from the locals here in Afghanistan.

Thanks for the help!

I have seen many examples in the states. They are fairly common.