New additions to my Princely State collection

Here're the two coins I got today. The first coin is a 1 Rupee coin from Mewar (1928). It is also known as 'Dosti London' coin as it is written in Hindi on the coin. The King of Mewar wanted the help of the Britishers to fight the challenge from the Muslim rulers. 'Dosti London' means 'Friendship with London'. The second coin is a 5 Kori from the princely state of Kutch.

sorry.. forgot to attach the pictures...

 

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The reverse of the second coin is different.. I'm sorry for the error.. Here's the actual coin..

 

good stuff.

 

Biju,those Mewari coins are nice.I can guess that they are silver 1 Rupee coins.That Kutchi silver coin is even better,as the date on the reverse is 1884,even though it is inscribed in true Arabic numerals.The ruler of Kutch was Maharajah Khengarji III (ruled 1875-1942).I am guess that it is a 2-1/2 Kori.Am I right? As to the VS date,it is VS 1955.

Aidan.

 

Aidan, everything is right except the denomination.. Its a Five Kori.

 

Biju,the 2-1/2 & 5 Kori are extremely difficult to find.I haven't even yet got a 1 Kori,silver,that is.

I do have 3 copper coins from Kutch that I can put my hands on at the moment.I have a few others from Kutch tucked away ready for me to identify & convert the dates.They are as follows;

Maharajah Khengarji III (& King George V) (1910-36).

VS 1976 (1920) 1 Trambiyo (1/2 Dokdo).

Maharajah Vijayarajji (& King George VI) (1942-47).

VS 2000 (1943) 1 Dhinglo (1/16 Kori / 1-1/2 Dokda).

VS 1999 (1943) 1 Adhio (1/2 Kori).

All Kutchi coins that were issued between 1860 (when Maharajah Pragmalji II ascended the Kutchi throne) & 1947 (the year that Maharajah Vijayarajji died) are in the joint names of the British monarch (King-Emperor or Queen-Empress) & the Maharajah.

The exception is the 1 Dhabu (1/8 Kori),1 Kori,& 5 Kori issued in VS 2004 (1947) by Maharajah Madanasinghji (reigned 1947-48) to commemorate the declaration of India's independence as the Dominion of India (15th of August 1947 to 26th of January 1950).

Aidan.

 

Aidan, these two coins are not very difficult to get.. They will cost just a bit more than the silver value.

 

This is a Rajkot silver mohur.. This is actually a restrike, which found its way into the catalogues. The mintage of this restrike is only 1,000 as per the Krause and its pretty difficult to get. Some collectors do not recognize this as a coin at all.

 

Biju,the Rajkot piece is actually a medal.There's a note in my old 1981 Krause that says 'Previously listed gold & silver restrike "Mohurs" of Rajkot have been determined to be medals'.

A Mohur is actually supposed to be a gold coin the same size as the British & Travancorean Sovereigns.The Mohur was tariffed at a rate of 1 Mohur = 15 Rupees.That is a reason why the Germans adopted a 15 Rupien coin for German East Africa (now the Tanganyikan part of Tanzania) in 1916.

Aidan.

 

The 1000 restrikes known for this coin was done is gold and somehow Krause
list those restrike in silver. It's a common convention that "Mohur" is made of gold. A "silver mohur" doesn't make any sense.

In 1945, the original coin was minted in silver and it was a "Nazarana coin", never minted to be issued for circulation. So, some collectors can argue that it's not truly a coin but a presentation piece. The mintage of original silver coin was in few thousands and all of them were saved by Rajkot treasury.

Regards
Ballabh Garg

 

The VS date on Kutch coin is 1940 which roughly translates to AD 1884.

Regards
Ballabh Garg

 

Ballabh,thanks for correcting me with regards as to converting that VS date.

That Rajkot medal is not a Nazarana piece,as it was actually first reported in the late 1960's.

There are a lot of Nazarana pieces,not only silver & gold,but copper ones as well.An example of a Nazarana coin is the Jaipuri 1949 Nazarana 1 Paisa of Maharajah Man Singh II (reigned 1922-49/70).Nazarana coins are a legitimate part of Indian Princely States numismatics.

Aidan.

 

So, is this a 'Nazarana coin' ?

 

Biju,that Rajkot piece is NOT a Nazarana coin.

Aidan.

 

Then, anybody knows who minted this coin and when? .. I'm sort of curious..

 

Biju,it was actually struck privately some time during the 1960's.I don't know the significance of the '1945' date apart from the fact that World War II ended that year & India began to be prepared for partitioning into the Dominion of India (1947-50) & the Dominion of Pakistan (1947-56).(Note;The latter years is when these 2 countries became British Commonwealth republics.)

Aidan.

 

okay... I got it now... I think I gotta sell it now...

 

Biju,it is good for one thing - melting down as scrap silver!

You'd be better off buying something nice like a nice Hyderbadi banknote or a silver Hyderabadi 1 Rupee,or another coin.

Aidan.

 

Before you melt them and get a silver lump out of it, how about accepting my offer for this item for 10 times silver melt price.

Regards
Ballabh Garg

 

Well, it's ok if you think it's not a Nazarana coin. I don't know if it qualifies to be called as Nazarana coin or a Medal coin or a Pattern.

The fact is that this was produced by Rajkot treasury before Indian independence. And sometime in '60s, the entire group was found in Rajkot treasury building. This was sold to a dealer in Bombay from where these coins end up in most private collections. At the same time, the original dies were found and only 1000 gold coins were restuck and sold via same dealer. After minting these gold restrikes the dies were destroyed.

I have one of each gold and silver coin in my collection and will keep them as part of my Indian collection.

Regards
Ballabh Garg